19 Sep 2019

NZ Biography: Sir Colin Meads

From Afternoons, 2:27 pm on 19 September 2019

The Rugby World Cup kicks off tomorrow in Japan. In honour of that, we've dedicated this week's biography to a legend of the game.

Sir Colin Meads played 133 matches at lock for the All Blacks, before turning to coaching. His work on and off the field made him not only one of our greatest players but also earned him a knighthood.

Respected sports writer and author Dr Ron Palenski is in our Dunedin studio to talk about the man known as 'Pine Tree'.

The entertainer: with Sir John Key, Sir Peter Snell and Sir Russell Coutts at Old St Pauls in 2009 at their knighthood ceremony.

Meads receives medical attention for his injured arm. He was told by the local doctor that it was "probably just a pinched nerve".

The X-Ray of Colin Mead's broken arm. South Africa 1970.

Proudly wearing the silver fern

Statue of Sir Colin Meads in Te Kuiti

Listener cover - dancing with Keisha Castle Hughes

Making the cover of Sports Digest

Meads on the cover of Rugby World

Sir Colin Meads breaks free during the 1971 Lions tour. Photosport / Peter Bush Collection

Colin Meads at a Rugby Coaching School in Taumarunui on 30 May 1976. Photosport NZ

Colin Meads in action for King Country against East Coast at Otorohanga on 28 September 1972. Photosport NZ

Colin Meads and Brian Lochore against Eastern Transvaal in 1970

Backbrace Sir Colin Meads plays with three-year-old Wayne Cooke on 13 March 1972 while Meads was recovering from a broken back sustained in a car crash. Photosport NZ

The farmer: Photosport

Meads the administrator.

Colin Meads at his farm in Te Kuiti, New Zealand on 15 May 2002. Photosport

Coln and wife Verna at his investiture

Arise Sir Colin - knighted by Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand

Sir Colin Meads presents his trophy to Mid-Canterbury captain Jon Dampney PHOTOSPORT

With the Meads Cup

Mourners watch Sir Colin's 2017 funeral service from the overflow area in a marquee in Te Kuiti.