Nicholas Ian Collins (born 13 August 1976) is a New Zealand former professional
rugby union player.
Collins was educated at Kamo High School in Whangarei and played his early senior rugby with Hamilton Old Boys after moving to the city to attend the
University of Waikato. He was on the books of Waikato but never made an appearance and transferred to the
Bay of Plenty at the end of the 2000 season. In 2001, Collins made his representative debut in the
World Sevens Series for New Zealand, which was being led by his Bay of Plenty coach
Gordon Tietjens
Sir Gordon Frederick Tietjens (born 9 December 1955) is head coach of the Samoa rugby sevens team, and a celebrated former coach of the New Zealand men's national team in rugby sevens, the All Blacks Sevens. When the International Rugby Boar ...
.
A centre, Collins won a Chiefs call up during the
2001 Super 12 season
The 2001 Super 12 season was the sixth season of the Super 12, contested by teams from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. The season ran from February to May 2001, with each team playing all the others once. At the end of the regular seaso ...
as an injury replacement for
Scott McLeod and debuted off the bench against the
Crusaders at Jade Stadium. He didn't feature again that year, then in 2002 made seven Super 12 appearances, including a three-try performance in a win over the Hurricanes at Waikato Stadium in the final round of the season.
Collins wasn't offered a contract by the Chiefs for the 2002 campaign after undergoing a second shoulder operation and instead signed with Japanese club
Sanyo Wild Knights
Saitama Wild Knights (formerly Panasonic Wild Knights) is a Japanese rugby union team formerly based in Ōta city, Gunma prefecture which plays in the Top League. Inspired by Tony Brown at fly half (though he was not captain), it dominated the l ...
. He also played for
Mitsubishi DynaBoars
also known as Mitsubishi Juko Sagamihara Rugby Club, are a Japanese rugby union team based in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. The owner of this club is Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.
The club was founded in 1981. It came second in the To ...
and
Toyota Jido Shokki, before returning to New Zealand in 2009 and joining his elder brother
Justin at Northland, where he had a dual role as a player and fitness trainer.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Nick
1976 births
Living people
New Zealand rugby union players
Rugby union centres
Rugby union players from Whangārei
Chiefs (rugby union) players
Bay of Plenty rugby union players
Northland rugby union players
New Zealand expatriate rugby union players in Japan
Saitama Wild Knights players
Mitsubishi Sagamihara DynaBoars players
Toyota Industries Shuttles Aichi players
People educated at Kamo High School