Collins ready to prove worth in Wales

Collins made 48 appearances in the All Blacks' back-row, starting against Argentina in 2003 and ending in New Zealand's 20-18 2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-final defeat by France in Cardiff.

He then had a stint at Toulon but has made the switch to the Ospreys, lured by the prospect of cross border competition with many of the stars of this summer's Lions tour.

But despite his illustrious history and fearsome reputation, Collins has said how he must prove himself if he is to become a regular member of the starting side.

"There's a very strong squad here with options everywhere," he said. "It's an honour for me to be able to come here and represent the Ospreys, but I realise that I can't take anything for granted.

""The first goal I have to set myself is to put the work in during pre-season to make sure that my body is in the best condition to compete. Once I've done that, we have a couple of pre-season matches to show what I can do on the field before the season proper starts. It's not about past reputations. Fitness and form is what dictates whether someone is going to play."

Collins arrived at the Liberty Stadium earlier this week and admits the transition to Wales has been smooth. "I arrived in Wales last night and met up with the squad this morning for the first time, doing two training sessions," he explained.

"There are three or four familiar faces from New Zealand, which certainly helps you to settle in, but the welcome from everyone has been first class. The atmosphere and the set-up reminds me of back home in many ways, it's really friendly and welcoming. When I got here this morning everyone was quick to shake my hand and introduce themselves and then it was down to business, but they made it very easy for me to just slide into the Ospreys way of doing things.

"Obviously I'm aware of a lot of the guys, I've played against a lot of them for Wales and I'm really looking forward to working alongside people like Shane Williams, Ryan Jones, Gavin Henson and the Joneses up front, but there are a lot of new faces for me, I understand that there's some great young players coming through and it'll be great to work with these guys as well and help them along the way. My job now is to learn all the names, learn all the moves in training and help to take the Ospreys forward."