#1. Jerry Collins
- Age: Passed away 5 June 2015 (aged 34)
- Position: Flanker
- Caps: 48
O’Mahony said: “In games, I remember for some reason that Ospreys team when I first started off. They had a back-row of Jerry Collins, [Filo] Tiatia and Marty Holah would have been playing in the back-row as well. I was only probably just out of my teens. It was a nasty enough back-row to be coming up against. Collins was a viscous bas***rd but a real gentleman off the pitch.”
Jerry Collins facts:
- Collins was a cousin of former All Blacks captain and Hurricanes teammate Tana Umaga
- He played as a flanker and number eight, and was considered to be one of the hardest tacklers in rugby history, along with Brian Lima
- Collins was born in Samoa but grew up in his beloved hometown of Porirua
Amazing story:
n 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 the team play a match 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.