Pinetree – one of a kind

From Page 16 Irish referee Kevin Kelleher ordered Meads off for dangerous play during the test against Scotland in Edinburgh in 1967, deeming he had aimed a kick at opposition first fiveeighth David Chisholm who was swiftly moving across the field to collect the ball.

Meads, for his part, said he stretched out and nudged the pill, not Chisholm, with his foot.

The sight of Meads, his head swathed in bandages to protect a nasty cut he had copped courtesy of a French boot in an earlier match, walking from Murrayfield quickly had the sports writers pecking their keyboards in frantic haste. This was some story, for sure.

Some believed Kelleher had been too hasty, and harsh, in his judgement.

"We are, at this moment, seized by a great anger," wrote Frenchman Denis Lalanne. "No one can soil or shame the great name of Colin Meads."

Upon transferring to Wales the following day, Meads was flooded with letters, cables and telegrams from supporters in Britain and beyond who offered their sympathies for what had happened in Edinburgh. Meads, for his part, bore no grudge. Later he and Kelleher were to exchange Christmas cards each year.

Meads was involved in a number of other scrapes, none more controversial than the act of pulling Wallaby halfback Ken Catchpole from a ruck which resulted in a serious injury in 1968.

In an era before TV cameras filmed every movement, the players were given licence to sort out their differences between themselves and Meads wasn’t never going to concede to anyone.

Former All Blacks team-mate Fergie McCormick might have had the No 15 stitched on to the back of his jersey, but his aggressive inyour-face style ensured he was often caught-up in enough rucks to witness Meads encouraging those around him.

"There was only thing in his mind and that was the fact he was playing for New Zealand. Losing never came into his mind, it was never part of the equation," McCormick said. "He was bloody tough and I mean it. A bulldozer could roll over him and he would still just get him and keep going.

"When I say that, I mean he was tough at no matter what he did. Whether it was playing rugby or working on the farm, it was just the calibre of the man."

Raw-boned and uncompromising, for sure, but McCormick also says Meads offered suggestions when tactics should be changed, as he did when he suggested to the fullback that he should hoist up and unders against the Welsh in Christchurch in 1969.

Meads was also a people’s person. He enjoyed a beer, his ability to soak up the amber refreshments were legendary, and even as the hours ticked by he remained convivial company.

He could also just as easily chat to an old woman or a young kid down the street.

"Off the field he had that ability to just mix with anyone," McCormick said. "It was just the way he was."