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4 August 2002
More Gold for New Zealand rugby at the Commonwealth Games
This time at Manchester with Gordon Tietjens as coach and Eric Rush as captain New Zealand wins the sevens final beating Fiji 33-25.

KELLEHER, KEVIN

An Irishman and one of rugby’s best performed referees, in charge of 23 internationals from 1960 to 1971. Kelleher had a very successful career as a referee, but he is largely remembered for being the man who sent Colin Meads off at Murrayfield during the Scotland v New Zealand match in 1967.

Kelleher ruled that Meads’s lunging kick at a loose bouncing ball near the Scottish flyhalf, David Chisholm, was dangerous and, having previously issued a warning in the vigorous encounter, he dismissed Meads. As the New Zealander was arguably the world’s most famous player at the time, the sending-off created a storm.

Ironically, Meads and Kelleher became friends and for many years exchanged Christmas cards. Kelleher was flown to New Zealand in 1988 to appear on the TV show ‘This is Your Life – Colin Meads.’

Although New Zealanders poured scorn on Kelleher as a referee, they tended to overlook his exceptional record with the whistle. Kelleher’s first international was Wales v Scotland in 1960, and his last was France v Scotland in 1971.

There were 42 All Black test All Blacks in 2013.