Obituary: ‘Pinetree’ stood tall as a colossus in the amateur game

It says much about the character of Colin Meads that when he unveiled a bronze statue of himself in his hometown of Te Kuiti earlier this summer, the All Black legend felt the need to apologise to the large crowd that had gathered in tribute to him.

Watched by his wife Verna and with his brother and New Zealand second row partner Stan at his side, he lifted the covers off the 2.7-metre, blackened bronze of “Pinetree” captured in full flight, rugby ball in giant, outstretched hand. And then Meads told his audience he regretted he was not “as fit as I used to be”.

He was 81 and stricken with pancreatic cancer and, but he pledged to try and have a few beers at the function that followed in the rural North Island town that has become known as Meadsville.