Thousands of mourners, including a who’s who of past All Blacks, gathered yesterday to remember the legendary Colin Meads, hailed as one of New Zealand’s greatest ever rugby players.

Nine months. Give or take a few days. That was more or less the time Kitch Christie had to fashion a team of world champions when he took over from Ian McIntosh as Springboks coach in October of 1994.

BEFORE John Gallagher took the final few steps of his journey from the streets of London into the inner sanctum of the All Blacks, one of the all-time greats had a word in his ear.

Former New Zealand coach Sir Brian Lochore has stepped down from his role as an All Blacks selector.

ALL BLACKS captain Tana Umaga thanked the people of Donegal yesterday for their warm welcome, saying he’d expected “rocks to be thrown at him” when he came to Ireland.