John Collins (rugby union, born 1939)

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

John Collins

Birth 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	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight	79 kg (174 lb)
School	Tokomaru Bay District High School
Notable relative(s)	Aaron Collins (son)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Second five-eighth Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 1958–1968 Poverty Bay 49 () International career Years Team Apps (Points) 1964–1965 New Zealand 3 (0)

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.^[1]

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.^[2]

Collins was married to Ingrid Collins.^[3] The couple had two children;^[3] their son, Aaron, was a Poverty Bay representative and played professional rugby in Scotland.^[4]

See also

• List of New Zealand national rugby union players