John Collins (rugby union)

John Collins

Full name	John Law Collins
Date of birth	(1939-02-01)1 February 1939
Place of birth	Tokomaru Bay, New Zealand
Date of death	29 May 2007(2007-05-29) (aged 68)
Place of death	Gisborne, New Zealand
Height	178 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Notable relative(s)	Aaron Collins (son)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Second five-eighth International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1964–65 New Zealand 3 (0)

John Law Collins (1 February 1939 — 29 May 2007) was a New Zealand rugby union international.

Raised in Tokomaru Bay, Collins was a second five-eighth and played his rugby with Gisborne Marist. He made his provincial debut for Poverty Bay in 1958 and was later a New Zealand Maori representative.

Collins missed three years of rugby in the early 1960s due to army service in Malaysia and on his return soon came into All Blacks contention. He gained his first cap in the opening 1964 Bledisloe Cup match against the Wallabies at Carisbrook, before a back injury kept him out of the remainder of the series. The following year, Collins was capped a further two times in the home series against the Springboks, at Athletic Park and Eden Park.

His son Aaron was a Poverty Bay representative and played professional rugby in Scotland.

See also

• List of New Zealand national rugby union players

External links

• John Collins at ESPNscrum