Piri Weepu and Luke McAlister denied chance to honour Jerry Collins

Jerry Collins jokes around with Piri Weepu during an All Blacks training session at Twickenham in 2005. Photo/Getty.

Former All Blacks Piri Weepu and Luke McAlister were prevented from playing for the Classic All Blacks against Toulon in a remembrance and fundraising match for their former teammate and friend Jerry Collins, after they were denied releases from their French clubs.

The match between the Classic All Blacks and Toulon, the current European champions who Collins played for briefly when his test career ended, was arranged to pay tribute to the former Wellington, Hurricanes and All Blacks enforcer, who died in the car accident in France five months ago which also killed his wife Alana and left their baby daughter Ayla severely injured.

Weepu and McAlister were denied the chance to take part in the game after their respective clubs - Oyonnax and Toulouse - refused to grant the pair releases, despite being in the middle of a month-long break during the Rugby World Cup.

Despite their playing ban, the pair made the effort to attend the game and joined many former teammates, including Justin Marshall, Carlos Spencer, Carl Hayman and Classic All Blacks captain and former Hurricanes loose-forward, Chris Masoe, to celebrate Collins' life.

The result saw the Classic All Blacks suffer a heavy 68-21 defeat, but Hayman, who played for Toulon after retiring from test rugby for the All Blacks, said the players appreciated the chance to honour their friend.

Watched the boys pay tribute today for our fallen brother.. Was good to come and support the boys… https://t.co/U9UllkSvGL

— Piri Weepu (@piriweepu) October 7, 2015

"It was a great occasion to be here with players I played with about 10 to 15 years ago," Hayman told the club's website.

"Yes, it was a bit strange to play against Toulon, strange to play against friends. But the most important thing was that it was for Jerry.

"That was the most important thing for us and I hope we've achieved the objective of raising money for his family.

"I think we did (pay homage to Collins) and it was good to get money for Jerry's daughter - that was our aim, and to play a match for everybody and Toulon.

"It was good to see the New Zealanders - there were a lot of players in the group who haven't played much for two or three years."

The Classic team included former French prop Franck Tournaire, 42, who was a close friend of Collins'.

Hayman, who retired this year, said: "He was very close to Jerry at Narbonne. It was good to see mates who travelled to be here for Jerry."

Classic coach Robbie Deans said his team of old stars had shown "glimpses of the past" despite being well past their prime.

"They are a very proud group of men not accustomed to losing when they have a fern on their chest.

"Most of them don't play anymore. Most of them are retired. They have to be realistic. It is very difficult to compete with full time professionals when you only go for a run occasionally."