--- title: Ex-All Black Rugby Player Jerry Collins Dead In Car Crash description: Prominent New Zealand rugby player Jerry Collins has been killed in a car crash in the south of France along with his wife Alana. canonical: https://time.com/3910349/top-new-zealand-rugby-player-jerry-collins-dead-in-car-crash/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-06-05T06:33:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T07:56:37.885Z article:section: Sports og:title: Top New Zealand Rugby Player Jerry Collins Dead In Car Crash og:description: His wife was also killed but the couple's baby survived og:url: https://time.com/3910349/top-new-zealand-rugby-player-jerry-collins-dead-in-car-crash/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911fd2c7d831adec/6988531f35ba6fd0bcc0d968/gettyimages-81234701.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jerry Collins Press Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Top New Zealand Rugby Player Jerry Collins Dead In Car Crash twitter:description: His wife was also killed but the couple's baby survived twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911fd2c7d831adec/6988531f35ba6fd0bcc0d968/gettyimages-81234701.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Top New Zealand Rugby Player Jerry Collins Dead In Car Crash by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 5, 2015 6:33 AM CUT  Jerry Collins of the Hurricanes and the New Zealand All Blacks addresses the media during a press conference at the New Zealand Rugby Union headquarters on May 26, 2008 in Wellington, New Zealand. Jerry Collins of the Hurricanes and the New Zealand All Blacks addresses the media during a press conference at the New Zealand Rugby Union headquarters on May 26, 2008 in Wellington, New Zealand.Marty Melville—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Jun 5, 2015 6:33 AM CUT Prominent New Zealand rugby player Jerry Collins has been killed in a car crash in the south of France along with his wife Alana, according to multiple media reports. Collins, 34, had represented the All Blacks in almost 50 matches including three as captain. The couple’s three-month-old baby daughter Ayla survived the crash, which is believed to have involved a bus, and has been airlifted to hospital in critical condition. Collins was playing professional rugby in France at the time of his death. The New Zealand and global rugby communities are in shock. > [](https://twitter.com/AllBlacks/status/606695711481196544) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3910349/top-new-zealand-rugby-player-jerry-collins-dead-in-car-crash/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3910349/top-new-zealand-rugby-player-jerry-collins-dead-in-car-crash/"},"headline":"Top New Zealand Rugby Player Jerry Collins Dead In Car Crash","datePublished":"2015-06-05T06:33:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T07:56:37.885Z","description":"His wife was also killed but the couple's baby survived","url":"https://time.com/3910349/top-new-zealand-rugby-player-jerry-collins-dead-in-car-crash/","keywords":["rugby","France","New Zealand","Crash"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911fd2c7d831adec/6988531f35ba6fd0bcc0d968/gettyimages-81234701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt911fd2c7d831adec/6988531f35ba6fd0bcc0d968/gettyimages-81234701.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jerry Collins Press Conference","caption":"Jerry Collins Press Conference","creditText":"Marty Melville—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/rugby/","name":"rugby"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3910349/top-new-zealand-rugby-player-jerry-collins-dead-in-car-crash/","name":"Top New Zealand Rugby Player Jerry Collins Dead In Car Crash"}}]}] ```