All Blacks great Meads dies at age 81
Print Edition
TRIBUTES flowed from politicians, former teammates and current players yesterday as New Zealand mourned the death of All Blacks great Colin Meads at the age of 81 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
Meads, who in 1999 was named New Zealand’s greatest rugby player of the 20th Century, was diagnosed with cancer last year and died in hospital in his home town of Te Kuiti yesterday.
In a sign of his importance to the people of the rugby-mad nation, his death was announced by Prime Minister Bill English. “This is a sad day for New Zealand rugby and for New Zealand,” English said in the statement. “He represented what it means to be a New Zealander. He was no-nonsense, reliable, hardworking, warm and very generous with his time.”
His family issued their own statement through New Zealand Rugby, expressing their thanks for the expressions of sympathy from the local community and from rugby fans worldwide.
Meads, nicknamed as ‘Pinetree’ at an early age, was renowned for his toughness and uncompromising attitude in an international playing career that spanned 14 years. He played 133 games for the All Blacks and even if only 55 of them were tests, that was still a record for the national team.
The rangy lock came to epitomize the stereotypical no-nonsense All Blacks forward but was also lauded for pace and ball-handling skills that were rarely seen in tight forwards of his day.
Meads died the day after the world champions All Blacks had opened their Rugby Championship campaign with a 54-34 victory over Australia and the team expressed its sorrow from Sydney.
“This is an incredibly sad day,” All Blacks captain Kieran Read said. “Sir Colin was an icon of our game.”
Coach Steve Hansen said: “His achievements in the black jersey are part of the All Blacks legacy.”
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