One of Jerry Collins’s former Ospreys team-mates has shared a remarkable story which highlighted the late All Blacks star’s generous side, five years on from his tragic death.
In an interview with Wales Online, Paul James said the hard-tackling loose forward was “an unbelievable player” on the field and a “very generous guy” off it.
He shared one particularly story, which he thought summed up the former Hurricanes legend’s character the best.
“There’s loads of stories about him,” James told Wales Online. “One of them concerned the way he used to rock up on Saturdays or Sundays at random places. He’d have a look at a map of Wales and say to the taxi driver: ‘Take me there’.
“On this particular day he turned up at some place in the valleys and asked the barman if could he watch TV. The reply came that the TV was in the corner, but it was a tiny one.
“JC then supposedly went across to the local Tesco, bought a 50-inch one and took it back to the pub, saying to the barman: ‘Plug that one in, mate’.
“He then watched what he wanted to watch and left the TV there.”
Collins played 48 test matches for New Zealand between 2001 and 2007. He was killed in a car accident in France on June 5, 2015.
