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You are here: Home » News Comment » Sir Colin Meads Turns 80 years old in 2016; born 3rd June 1936 - and still going strong.
2 June 2016
It still reads very proudly; Meads played for his country over a span of 15 seasons; No one played longer. His full record of first-class rugby is listed here.
MEADS, Colin Earl born 3.6.1936 in Cambridge.
(Only Club; Waitete, Te Kuiti, New Zealand) Provincial games for King Country 1955(2)-56(6)-57(6)-58(9)-59(6)-60-61(7)-62(9)-63(10)-64(9)-65(10)-66(11)-67(11)-68(9)-69(10)-70-71(8)-72(14), Total for King Country 139 games, 31 tries, 1dropped goal, 99points;
For Combined Wanganui-King Country 1956(3)-65-66(2)-71, 3t; King Country-Counties 1959(2); Centurions Club 1956-57-58-61-70, 3t; WJ Whineray’s XV 1959-66, 1t; Barbarians Club (NZ) 1973(2); Harlequins Club (NZ) 1974; South African 75th Jubilee XV (in SA) 1964(3), 2t; NZRFU President’s XV 1973 (v NZ); NZRFU Invitation XV 1973 (v NZ); President’s Overseas XV (in England) 1971(3); Tongan Invitation XV (in Tonga) 1973(2), 2t; North Is Colts 1955; NZ Colts (U21) 1955(8), 3t; NZ Juniors Trial 1957; NZ Juniors (U23) 1958(10), 3t; Black XV 1957; North Is XV 1956; North Island 1956-57-58-59-62-63-65-66-67-68-69-71, 12g, 1t; NZ Trials 1956-57(2)-58-59-60(2)-62-63(4)-65-66-67(2)-68-69-70(2)-71(2), 22g, 4t; Rest of NZ 1956; A New Zealand XV 1958-65-66;
Full NEW ZEALAND games 1957(10)-58(3)-59(3)-60(23)-61(3)-62(8)-63(26)-64(3)-65(4)-66(4)-67(12)-68(13)-69(2)-70(15)-71(4), 133g (55 tests, 7t), 28t, 1c, 86pts. Career Match total of first class games: 361g, 81t, 1c, 1dg, 253pts.
A loose forward/lock. educated Te Kuiti Primary School and Te Kuiti High School,1st Played HS 1st XV 1950. A Farmer all his working life. King Country coach 1976-81. NZ selector 1986; NZRFU councillor 1992-96, Made NZRFU life member 2007. Awarded NZRU award of the Steinlager Salver 1999 for outstanding service to rugby. Inducted into International Rugby Hall of Fame 1997. In 1999 was voted the NZ rugby Player of the Century. In 2002 the NZRU introduced the Meads Cup for competition among the Heartland unions. Distinguished Companion of the NZ Order of Merit (DCNZM) 2000; Member of the British Empire (MBE) 1971. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth II 2009.
A biography Colin Meads – All Black, by Alex Veysey, was published 1974 and became a best seller. Another biography Meads by Brian Turner was published 2002. A third book the A-Z of Meads by Keith Quinn was published in 2010. A Brother of Stan, the 1961-66 All Black. A cousin of Brian and Sam who both played first class rugby. And father of Glynn who was an All Black trialist who played 113 games for King Country.
Comments 0
Richard Hugh McCaw - to be known universally as Richie - came into the world.
UNDERWOOD, RORY
Royal Air Force, Leicester and England
85 internationals for England 1984–96
6 internationals for British Isles 1989-93
UNDERWOOD, TONY
Leicester, Newcastle and England
27 internationals for England 1992-98
1 international for British Lions 1997
Two dashing brothers who were regular wingers in England’s selections in the 1980s and 90s.
Dealing first with Rory, who was the elder by nearly six years. He was a dashing wing, as befitted his occupation as a flight lieutenant in the Royal Air Force. At the end of his career he had played 85 internationals for England, a record total till beaten by Jason Leonard. His total of test tries scored was also an England record, with 49 scored (plus one in a Lions test) boosting his final total to 50. This placed him second on the all-time test try-scoring record, behind David Campese’s 64 tries. Ironically his final tally of test tries came during a time when England was in a period of playing mostly ten-man rugby. Rory Underwood gained a reputation for being underused on occasions but having a rare talent for scoring tries when the ball did come his way.
Rory was born in Middlesbrough and Tony in Ipoh, Malaysia, the brothers were of part-Chinese origins, a rugby rarity in itself, and they spent some of their childhood in Malaysia. Rory’s first cap was against Ireland in 1984. Most of his caps were won on the left wing, but he could play more than competently on the right side (his English record-equaling total of five tries against Fiji at Twickenham in 1989 came when he was playing on the right wing side).
Rory’s Air Force commitments meant he missed several England tours, which meant his test match tally could have been even higher. This popular and dynamic England star was a member of the England team which contested the three Rugby World Cups, in 1987, 1991 and 1995; he played in three Grand Slam-winning England seasons, plus four Five Nations titles. He played in the 1991 World Cup final at Twickenham after scoring four tries in the lead-up games. He also toured with the British Isles to Australia in 1989 and to New Zealand in 1993.
Tony Underwood first came to the fore in 1989 when he appeared for Barbarians Club against the touring All Blacks at Twickenham. He made the England team for a tour to Argentina the following year but did not play an actual test until late in 1992. As his brother Rory was on the other wing (v Canada at Wembley) they became the first pair of brothers to play in an England team since Arthur and Harold Wheatley in 1938.
The forte of Tony’s game was blistering acceleration and a huge confidence to use it well. He toured New Zealand, with his brother in the 1993 British Lions and the two also shared England’s Grand Slam win in 1995. Tony had a second Lions tour, to South Africa in 1997.
At the 1995 World Cup in South Africa Tony had the extremely unenviable task of marking a rampant Jonah Lomu of New Zealand in one of the semi-finals games. Sadly, for England’s hopes at that tournament, and the memory of Tony Underwood as an international player, the video of him being repeatedly trampled underfoot or run around by the giant-sized Lomu, as he went on to score four tries, has been played over and over again. Tony deserved better than this. At his best he was a top player capable of many good things on the field, and like his brother, one of the best wingers England has ever produced.
Who played ten tests for the All Blacks - but only in NZ?
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