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Debutant Luke Collins says that making his Cornwall bow in the defeat at Swinton Lions was a ‘proud moment’ for the English-born Australian.

Collins, 24, moved Down Under as a child after being born in London. He played both rugby league and rugby union growing up with spells in the junior ranks at 13-a-side clubs Balmain Tigers and North Sydney Bears.

Most recently, Collins has been playing top flight rugby union in Holland for RC Hilversum in the Ereklasse.

And now Collins’ union commitments have come to an end, he has moved to these shores. Arriving in the Duchy on Monday, Collins trained with his new team mates this week and was named at hooker for Cornwall in the 54-16 reverse at Swinton.

“The result didn’t go our way but it was a proud moment for me to make my debut for the club,” Collins told cornwallrlfc.co.uk. “I thought in stages we were really good – especially with the ball in our hand.

“We managed to score three tries and if a few more things go our way in their half then we could have scored another couple of tries too.

“There were parts of the game in which we played and performed really positively. The scoreline blew out a bit at the end, but we still put three tries on one of the best teams in the comp.

“Certainly when we had the ball in our hands, we looked dangerous. If we fix up one or two things in our defence and gel a bit more we will continue to improve.

“It was my first game as I am new to the team and it was Nathan Conroy’s first game two. The boys are getting used to a new halves and a new hooker so once we play a few more games together I know we will go well.”

Collins admitted that the early stages of his first competitive rugby league match for a number of months was tough but as the match progressed, he found his feet and slotted back into the nuances of the 13-player code seamlessly. 

“The first 10 minutes was a bit rough because my lungs were burning,” he joked. “Once I got over that, though, it was straight back into it. I have played both codes growing up so it is easy to switch in and out and I didn’t find any problems.”