Meads the icon dies aged 81
SIR COLIN MEADS, one of rugby’s most iconic figures and voted New Zealand’s Player of the 20th Century, died yesterday – aged 81.
Nicknamed ‘Pinetree’, he was an old-school enforcer of a second row who played 133 times for the All Blacks, including 55 Tests between 1957 and 1971.
Meads worked as a sheep farmer in King Country in New Zealand’s North Island where it was said he used to run up and down hills with two of his animals under his arms.
He later played a part in the development of Martin Johnson when the World Cup-winning England captain played for Meads as a teenager in the late 1980s. Meads was so impressed he tried to turn Johnno into an All Black.
Willie John McBride, who played against him for the Lions in 1966 and 1971, said Meads was ‘an honestto-God rugby man’.
McBride added: “No matter how hard you hit him he was always back up and in your face again.
“Give me eight of that type of player and my team would beat the world.”
Kiwi PM Bill English said: “He was not only a great All Black but also a genuinely good New Zealand bloke.”