Colin Meads

Colin Meads

Player information
Full name	Colin Earl Meads
birthday	June 3, 1936
place of birth	Cambridge , New Zealand
date of death	20th August 2017
Place of death	Te Kuiti , New Zealand
size	1.92 m
society
society	Career ended
position	Second row striker number eight
Provinces as active
Years	province	Games (points)
1955-73	King Country	139 ()
National team
Years	National team	Games (points)
1957-71	New Zealand	55 (21)

Sir Colin Earl Meads , KNZM , MBE (born June 3, 1936 in Cambridge - † August 20, 2017 in Te Kuiti ) was a New Zealand rugby union player .

Career

Colin Meads, 2015

Meads, nicknamed Pinetree (Pine), played 133 games for the All Blacks , New Zealand's national team, including 55 official internationals. At the beginning of his career he played as a winger and number 8 , later he moved up to the position of second-row striker , where he played eleven internationals with his brother Stanley Meads - himself a 30-time All Black.

Colin Meads took over the captain's role for the national team several times, but never for a long time. Nevertheless, he holds the record for the longest time as a captain - from 1960 to 1971.

He was considered one of the toughest players in his sport. During a game against Scotland in 1967 he was sent off as the second player ever in rugby union. He broke his arm in an open scramble in a game against Eastern Transvaal in South Africa in 1970. Although his arm was hanging down and the fracture could not be missed, Meads continued to play. When a doctor cut open the jersey after the game and confirmed the suspicion, Meads muttered: "At least we won the bloody game."

However, many observers criticized Meads for unnecessary brutality in his game. This is how New Zealand sports journalist Sir Terry McLean commented on his induction as a founding member of the NZ Sports Hall of Fame after his resignation in 1972:

"Great? Sort of. Greatest? No. The feeling is of pity that some of our rugby not only tolerates but applauds dangerous play which can result in injuries which turn men, especially young men, into cripples. "

"Significant? So to speak. The biggest? No. It is regrettable that part of our rugby sport not only tolerates dangerous play, but welcomes it, which can result in injuries that cripple men, especially young men. "

After the end of his playing career, Meads worked, among other things, as a coach and for the New Zealand rugby association. In 1999 he declared him "Player of the Century".

Meads died on August 20, 2017 in a hospital in Te Kuiti of complications from pancreatic cancer .

Web links

Commons : Colin Meads  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Lindsay Knight: Colin Meads # 583 . New Zealand National Rugby Union Team's allblacks.com website , August 20, 2017
• Colin Earl Meads: New Zealand All Black. New Zealand Rugby Museum, December 21, 2012, archived from the original on October 29, 2012 ; accessed on August 20, 2017 (English). 

Individual evidence

1. ^ Frank Keating: Premature parting for twin peas in a pod . The Guardian , May 30, 2006, accessed August 20, 2017.
2. ↑ All Blacks great Sir Colin Meads dies after battle with cancer. stuff.co.nz, August 20, 2017, accessed August 20, 2017.