Jerry Collins (4 November 1980 – 5 June 2015) was a professional New Zealand rugby union player. He played for New Zealand, for whom he was capped 48 times, and most recently played for Yamaha Júbilo, in the Top League.

Early career

Collins made New Zealand Secondary Schools through his performance in the 1st XV side at St. Patrick's in Wellington for two seasons running in 1997 and 1998 and was Player of the Tournament at the 1999 World Junior Championships (Under-19) which New Zealand won, becoming the first player for that team to be called up to the All Blacks.

Death

Jerry Collins died in a car accident in France along with his partner on the 5th of June 2015 at the age of 34. His baby daughter is in critical condition in hospital.

Professional career

Collins made his Wellington debut in the NPC in 1999, and his Wellington Hurricanes debut in 2001. He made a total of 74 appearances for the Hurricanes between 2001 and 2008, which included an appearance in the 2006 final against the Crusaders at AMI Stadium.

After debuting for the All Blacks in 2001, Collins went on to play 48 test matches, scoring five tries. In June 2006, he captained the All Blacks in a one-off Test match against Argentina, where he led his team to a 25–19 victory in Buenos Aires becoming the 61st captain of the All Blacks. He was named as All Black captain 2007 Rugby World Cup matches against Portugal and Romania, standing in for regular captain Richie McCaw.

Collins retired from international rugby in May 2008. Shortly afterwards, he played in a rugby league match in the Wellington Competition, registered under a different name. The team was fined.

In October 2007, following New Zealand's exit from the 2007 Rugby World Cup, Collins was vacationing in Devon when he was spotted by Barnstaple head coach Kevin Squire who invited him to watch it play at the weekend. Much to the club's surprise Collins turned up so they asked if he minded running a coaching session with the junior section. After doing this Kevin Squire thanked Collins and asked if there was anything they could do to repay him, to which Collins replied he just wanted to play rugby. So the following Saturday Collins turned out for the club's 2nd XV match against local side Newton Abbot. In a match a few weeks later for the Barbarians he wore the Barnstaple socks.

After leaving the Hurricanes, Collins played for Toulon during the 2008-09 season. In May 2009, Collins agreed a two-year deal to join Welsh team Ospreys. He was Ospreys' Players' Player of the Year in the 09/10 season.

He then played for Yamaha Júbilo in the Top League in Japan, whom he joined at the beginning of the 2011 season. He last played for the classic All blacks against Fiji in 2013, and he took 2014 off.

In January 2015, Jerry signed a contract as a Medical Joker to play in the French ProD2 with Racing Club Narbonne. He was injury cover for Rocky Elsom.

Personal life

Collins is a cousin of former All Blacks captain and Hurricanes team mate Tana Umaga.

In March 2013 Collins was arrested in a Hamamatsu department store after he was spotted carrying a 17 cm-long knife. Friends of his claimed he was carrying it for self-defence after he was threatened. He was tested negative for all illegal substances.

A few days after the arrest, Collins said he was "relieved" to have been arrested, as he feared for his life.

Collins and his wife died in a motor vehicle accident involving a bus while in France.