Colin Meads

Sir Colin Meads

Meads at a fundraiser, August 2015
Full name	Colin Earl Meads
Nickname	Pinetree
Date of birth	(1936-06-03) 3 June 1936 (age 80)
Place of birth	Cambridge, New Zealand
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Weight	102 kg (225 lb)
School	Te Kuiti High School
Notable relative(s)	Stan Meads (brother)
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Flanker, Number 8, Lock
New Zealand No.	583
Provincial/State sides Years Club / team Caps (points) 1955–73 King Country 139
National team(s) Years Club / team Caps (points) 1957–71 New Zealand 55 (21)

Sir Colin Earl Meads KNZM MBE (born 3 June 1936) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played 55 test matches (133 total games), most frequently in the lock forward position, for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks, from 1957 until 1971.

Meads is widely considered one of the greatest players in history. Nicknamed 'Pinetree', he is an icon within New Zealand rugby, and was named the country's Player of the Century at the NZRFU Awards in 1999.

Colin Earl Meads was born to Vere Meads and Ida Meads (née Gray) on 3 June 1936, in the village of Cambridge in the Waikato region. His father Vere was a descendant of early settlers Joseph Meads and Ann Meads (née Coates), who emigrated to New Zealand from England in 1842. Vere’s grandfather Zachariah Meads was among the first British children to be born in Te Aro, Wellington, in 1843, and his grandmother Elizabeth Meads (née Lazare) was the daughter of an Irish minister who had educated freed slaves on the island of Mauritius before emigrating to Wanganui.

Vere and his wife raised their five children on a sheep farm near Te Kuiti. Meads credits the farming lifestyle for his strong physique and high level of fitness. Meads' brother Stanley Meads was also a noted rugby player, playing 30 matches as an All Black. In 11 matches Stanley and Colin locked the All Black scrum.

Verna and Meads have 5 children Karen Stockman, Kelvin Meads, Rhonda Wilcox who played for the NZ Silver Ferns, Glynn 'Pinetree' Meads also played and managed rugby for King Country and youngest daughter Shelley Mitchelle who played for the NZ women's basketball team. Colin and Verna raised their family in a Te Kuiti farm house, which they have recently sold, although they still live in Te Kuiti.