He made his comments in the wake of a number of suspensions handed out in the opening few matches of the Rugby World Cup, particularly those of Springbok Schalk Burger and English skipper Phil Vickery.

When asked if the IRB’s crackdown will take away from rugby’s physical nature, Collins replied: “I hope not because then I would stop playing.”

“It is a long way to come for your tournament to end early,” he added. “But what can you do? In (the South Africa v Samoa) game you could have cited 10 people. It is just the luck of the draw who gets picked up and who does not.”

As a renowned hard man, Collins also said that when he takes the field he is aware there are a number of citing commissioners watching his every move, as well as those of his All Black teammates.

“It is like having someone looking over your shoulder. You have it in the back of your mind, but the game is brutal and these things happen.

“Sometimes you get cited for things you wouldn’t normally get cited for. It’s just luck really. But we are working on playing the odds in our favour.