The Intimidator

Soccer mums would have been aghast to see the images of Jerry Collins' hands attached so firmly to George Smith's hair in Brisbane last week.

It didn't look good - another black mark against the man who is fast becoming the enfant terrible of New Zealand rugby.

The All Blacks and Wallabies were happy to pass it off as one of those things "that just happens". But a grown man doesn't just happen to grab another by the hair without having some conscious realisation of what he is doing.

Collins, a man who has always played with an intensity that would glaze raw meat, now has the air of someone on the edge.

There was the gratuitous use of the "f" word live on TV after the Argentinian game. Then there was the infamous weak bladder episode in Christchurch, followed by the grabbing of Wallaby flanker Smith's hair and taking a dreadlock as a souvenir. The first transgression was dumb, the second unfortunate and his work in Brisbane was just plain nasty.

Right now, there won't be any parents in New Zealand urging their young sons to be more like Jerry.

But the All Black coaches won't necessarily be too concerned that Collins is passing himself off as a loose cannon dangerously close to going pop at any time.

Graham Henry has built a supremely athletic pack that comes with a definite physical edge. No one has really got the better of them for almost 12 months now.

Yet, throughout their 13-game unbeaten run, it has been hard to subdue the feeling that there is something missing. There is an uneasiness that all that athletic prowess could be rendered redundant if, say, the French or Boks decide to indulge in the ugly.

As much as we would all love to believe test football is geared towards those teams who steer carefully within the laws and honour a code of ethics, there are times when it becomes a street battle. The French, in particular, are happy to take the game out of the referee's hands and effectively ask opposition teams what they are prepared to do to win.

That's what they did in the World Cup semifinal of 1999. While the backs were cutting their glorious second half swathe, the forwards were operating in some dark places.

As the game slipped away from New Zealand, skipper Taine Randell could be heard squealing from the bottom of a ruck that his crown jewels were being grabbed.

The instant he squealed, the French knew they had the game won. The All Blacks' hope that the referee would deal with it signalled to the French that there was a limit on what they were prepared to do to win.

If they had tried the same act on Buck Shelford, he would have silently absorbed the treatment and exacted an equally brutal revenge without officialdom ever having to be involved.

Mark 'Cowboy' Shaw and Sean Fitzpatrick would have been the same. The original perpetrator would then have to ask himself whether he was game to launch another cheap shot.

Like it or not, the All Blacks need Collins to be snorting fire and staring wildly every time he plays. If the rest of the world sees him as a thug, it will be no bad thing.

Once upon a time, Troy Flavell was destined to play the role of All Black enforcer. But Flavell has been sanitised since returning from Japan. His rap sheet got a little too long and now his chances of an All Black recall are dependent on him proving his wild days are behind him.

So it is down to Collins to provide the All Blacks with an intimidatory edge. With him in the side, the All Blacks will have someone on board whom the opposition will be thinking about. There will be a reluctance to mix it up if there is a belief that Collins won't be holding back his retaliation.

Collins has always been confrontational. Who will ever forget the way he buckled Welsh No 8 Colin Charvis in 2003? Or the hit he put on Chris Jack in last year's Super 12?

His indiscretions of the last few weeks have not been good for the game. But they have probably not been so bad for the All Blacks.