Justin Collins (born 1974, also known as Gus) is an Australian born,

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 ...

former

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

player. His usual position was flanker. Collins was born in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

in 1974 and moved to

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangarei District, Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and ...

in 1984. He started playing rugby for Kamo High School, before progressing to Whangārei club rugby and then provincial rugby for Northland, for whom he made 114 appearances. He was selected for the Chiefs in

Super Rugby Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...

in 1998. The following year the territories of the Chiefs and the

Blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

switched, and Collins made his Blues debut against the Highlanders. He made 92 appearances for the Blues, scoring seven tries and 35 points, before retiring in 2009 due to series of concussions. After his playing career he joined the board of the New Zealand Rugby Players Association, his work for which was recognised with the Kirk Award in 2016.

Personal life

Collins has been married since 2004, and has two daughters born 2002 and 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Justin 1974 births Living people New Zealand rugby union players Chiefs (rugby union) players Northland rugby union players Rugby union players from Tasmania People educated at Kamo High School Rugby union flankers Blues (Super Rugby) players