Birth name | Colin Earl Meads | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 3 June 1936 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Cambridge, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of death | 20 August 2017 | (aged 81)||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of death | Te Kūiti, 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) Rhonda Wilcox (daughter) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Sir Colin Earl Meads KNZM MBE (3 June 1936 – 20 August 2017) was a New Zealand rugby union player. He played 55 test matches (133 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' due to his physical presence, he was an icon within New Zealand rugby, and was named the country's Player of the Century at the NZRFU Awards in 1999.