Aaron Collins (born 25 June 1971 in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

) is a New Zealand rugby union player and now coach. He normally played at the

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

position; and previously played for

Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors are a professional rugby union side from Scotland. The team plays in the United Rugby Championship league and in the European Professional Club Rugby tournaments. In the 2014–15 season they won the Pro12 title and became t ...

and

Glasgow Academicals The Glasgow Academical Football Club is the third oldest rugby football club in Scotland. The club was also a founder member of the Scottish Football Union (the future SRU) in 1873. History Glasgow Hawks In 1997 the decision was made to ...

and West of Scotland.

Rugby Union career

Amateur career

By virtue of a grandfather born in

Blackburn, West Lothian Blackburn is a town in West Lothian, Scotland, near both Bathgate and Livingston, two of the larger towns in the county. It is situated approximately west of Edinburgh and east of Glasgow on the old A8 road. History Blackburn means "the bl ...

- Aaron Collins was Scottish-Qualified - and in 1994 he was also playing in Scotland for

. He played for amateur side West of Scotland in 1997 and 1998 He was back playing with West of Scotland in 2002. He played again for Glasgow Accies in a memorial match for Gordon Mackay in 2012. Collins played for Oban Lorne RFC in the 2014-15 season.

Provincial and professional career

Aaron represented Waikato province against the British and Irish Lions in 1993. At the time Collins was playing for Hamilton Old Boys. Collins is one of the select players to have played for four New Zealand provinces:

Poverty Bay Poverty Bay (Māori: ''Tūranganui-a-Kiwa'') is the largest of several small bays on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island to the north of Hawke Bay. It stretches for from Young Nick's Head in the southwest to Tuaheni Point in the north ...

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...

and

King Country The King Country (Māori: ''Te Rohe Pōtae'' or ''Rohe Pōtae o Maniapoto'') is a region of the western North Island of New Zealand. It extends approximately from the Kawhia Harbour and the town of Otorohanga in the north to the upper reaches of ...

. He played in New Zealand between 1991 and 1997. He was called up by

in the 1997–98 and 1998-99 season. He was on the bench for the professional provincial side on 4 January 1988 in a

Scottish Inter-District Championship The Scottish Inter-District Championship is a rugby union competition between regional sides in Scotland. Established in 1953, the tournament went through several formats. The Scottish Rugby Union confirmed in January 2023 that the Scottish In ...

match against

Caledonia Reds Caledonia Reds were a Scottish rugby union professional district team who participated in the Scottish Inter-District Championship and in two seasons of the Heineken Cup. They evolved from one of the traditional four amateur districts of Scotland ...

. He played in the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Heineken Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

for Glasgow in the 1998-99 season against

Pontypridd RFC Pontypridd Rugby Football Club ( cy, Clwb Rygbi Pontypridd) are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales. They compete in the Indigo Group Premiership, which they won for four consecutive seasons between 2012 and 2015, and ...

. He also played in some of Glasgow's Welsh matches in the WRU Challenge Cup of the 1998-99 season. Collins also played for Harlequins in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

International career

He was to play for a Scotland Sevens side named Rugby Ecosse in 1998 in the Air France International Sevens scoring a try against Argentina Sevens side.

Coaching career

He coached Hillhead Jordanhill in the 2006-07 season. Collins became coach of

Biggar RFC Biggar RFC is a rugby union club based in Biggar, South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Founded in 1975, the team plays its home games at Hartree Mill. The men's side currently competes in , the women's side currently compete in . History The club was ...

in 2007.

Family

His father John Collins was an All Black in 1964.

References

External links

Statbunker ProfileInterview of Collins when Biggar RFC Head Coach
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Aaron New Zealand rugby union coaches New Zealand rugby union players Living people 1971 births Glasgow Warriors players Glasgow Academicals rugby union players West of Scotland FC players Oban Lorne RFC players Harlequin F.C. players Expatriate rugby union players in Scotland New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate rugby union players in England New Zealand expatriate rugby union players Place of birth missing (living people)