By WYNNE GRAY
Justin Collins will listen to the All Black squad announcement on Sunday and wonder what might have been.
But the moment will not last for the Blues flanker. He is preparing for his return to club rugby a week later.
It has been a wretched season for Collins, one
of the openside flankers on the New Zealand A tour to Europe last year, who hoped to trouble the national selectors this year with Josh Kronfeld unavailable.
Collins knew he needed an operation to reattach ligaments in his right shoulder and tidy up some bone damage, but the forecast was a mid-Super 12 return. Even with a four-month rehabilitation programme, that would leave him with a good shot at impressing the All Black selectors. Collins turned out for his new Marist club in March, but 30 minutes into his second game his shoulder was crushed in an awkward tackle.
"I was packing it because it was the same shoulder, but I had it x-rayed and they said it was something entirely different," Collins said.
However, it was sayonara Super 12 for the 27-year-old.
"I could perhaps have played the last game but I am leaving it a little longer just to make sure this time," Collins said.
"An extra couple of weeks won't make any difference because we had a meeting with Auckland the other night and sorted out our NPC programme.
"I accepted the first rehab stretch, but the second one got me down a bit," he said. "I sulked a little before I got back on track. I had to get my head round it."
Collins reckons he is reasonably fit, though he has yet to get into heavy weight work, the final phase in repairing his shoulder.
The recovery has been more about regaining flexibility, resistance training, light lifting and plenty of gym work.
