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CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand rugby officials have defended All Blacks flanker Jerry Collins who was seen to urinate on the playing field prior to Saturday's Tri-Nations test against Australia.
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Television cameras and still photographers at Jade Stadium captured images of Collins kneeling and urinating on the playing field minutes before kickoff in the match, attended by more than 34,000 fans. Edited footage of the incident was played in national television bulletins on Sunday.
Questioned about Collins' action at a news conference in Christchurch on Sunday, All Blacks co-coach Steve Hansen said the incident was "unfortunate".
"If you're a male and you're about to play a test match and you're seconds away from kickoff and you get the urge to want to go to the toilet what do you do?" Hansen said. "Do you rush off and let the game start with 14 men or do you try to be as discreet as you can be and hope that cameramen use commonsense and don't go showing it to everyone on the screen.
"He did his best to hide it. It'd be really good if we didn't make a big issue of it. Most people who are caught short try to be as discreet as they possibly can. He was in that case," he said.
Hansen said he would speak to Collins about the incident, advising him to "get your ablutions done before you get out on the track." | 
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