Collins issue 'blown out of proportion'

Jerry Collins' decision to relieve himself on the international rugby stage is a wee issue blown out of proportion, All Blacks management say.

The All Black hardman had an obviously irresistible call of nature just before kick-off in the Bledisloe Cup test on Saturday night.

Collins went down on one knee to water the Jade Stadium turf in front of more than 32,000 spectators, and was caught on camera. It is not the first time in public, as he has also been spotted at rugby training doing the same thing.

Collins could not be reached for comment yesterday. And if All Blacks assistant coach Steve Hansen, fronting up to the media, was peed off by Collins' very public act, he was not showing it.

"I haven't seen it, but I've been told about it. It's unfortunate if you are a male and you are about to play a test match and you are seconds away from kick-off, and you get the urge to want go to the toilet, what do you do?"

"[It is], ideally, not the right thing to do, but given the same circumstances, if you were playing for Italy in the [soccer] World Cup final, you would probably do the same thing.

"He did his best to hide it, so it would be really good if we didn't all make a big issue of it."

Hansen did not believe the Sky television production team ran the shot deliberately, saying it was probably bad luck.