KEY POINTS:
MARSEILLE - As he clambered to the top of the rocky outcrop, Jerry Collins had ideas of diving into the Mediterranean. Training for the day was finished but the competition was not over.
Collins was going to be the first in the All Black party to take the
plunge into the sapphire waters besides the team hotel in Marseille.
But as he surveyed the lengthy drop, Collins thought better of his tactics and prudently leaped feet first into the shallows. That decision was a metaphor for the progress he has made since his 2001 test debut. Not quite so impetuous, more layers to his play, better judgment in his game as he moves towards his 36th international on Sunday against France in Lyon.
"It has been pretty frustrating waiting to get into this match," said Collins, who missed the England test.
"I had five games straight there in the Air New Zealand Cup and then this interlude, but I guess it is all part and parcel of the game."
There were the hiccups at the start of his test career when he damaged a shoulder and then had his 2002 season interrupted when he had the pin removed from his broken leg. But there has been little All Black let-up since for the 26-year-old.
As he and his formidable physique have developed, there has been a more mature edge to his game.
"I suppose there are always changes," Collins said. "This game has always got something going on.
"A couple of years ago, obviously there was a Brumbies style to the game where you could hold the ball for 15 phases and just go from ruck to ruck and then there was room for guys who just bashed the ball up.
"Then you had to try and be a ball-player and now it is all about forwards having a bit more skill, although the fundamentals have not altered a huge amount.
"On the weekend it is going to be pretty direct. If you get a chance to put a step in here or a little kick in there, you will, but it will be pretty tight.
"My role is to play the sort of football I do, it is confrontational and I just have to be myself, I suppose."
Collins' style is one of the diverse parts of the All Blacks which has made them into such a dangerous foe, a team who can attack or defend with the best, a side who are never beaten and are an early favourite for the fifth World Cup crown.
Collins tweaks parts of his game that the staff demand, like adding the offloads in recent years which have extended his arsenal.
"But at the end of the day I am a forward and I get paid to go forward," he says with his usual mocking half-smile.
The national championship final seemed long ago and Wellington's defeat was not one he wanted to recall too often.
A more pleasant memory was the 45-6 win over France in Paris two years ago, but it was difficult to remember much detail.
"You play so many games they become a blur really and to be honest, to beat France in Paris is a much easier task than beating them in a place like Lyon or Marseille."
Rugby in the south of France was valued much more than in other parts of the country. Collins liked the way his teammates dealt to England last weekend but was unsure how this test would go.
"I suppose it depends which French team turns up and which All Black team turns up, and in saying that I don't think people at home realise just what it is like playing the French down here in the south."
France had more creative players than England and were very dangerous with their counterattack.
"To be honest I have tried to work my running lines on guys like [Olivier] Magne. Obviously he is not playing but there are a lot of guys who play like that. There is a younger generation who are big boys and very good ball-players too."
Collins is a big fan of French rugby and pointed out how their sides were dominating each pool of the Heineken Cup. With his mate Tana Umaga playing for Toulon, it is a chance to get an even better handle on the French rugby scene.
