Author(s): Brian Turner

Sport

Colin Meads is the greatest rugby player this country has ever produced. Even before he was voted our Rugby Player of the Century, Meads had already attained living legend status in New Zealand. Between 1957 and 1971 - when he strode the rugby globe like a colossus - the great 'Pinetree' played a staggering 133 games for the All Blacks, a record which, remarkably, still stands today. Like the man himself, Colin Meads All Black was a phenomenon back in the early 1970s. It sold a remarkable 60,000 copies in hardback and, almost 30 years on, remains this country's biggest selling sports biography. His new book, though, will not simply pick up where the first one left off. Having held some of the highest appointments the game here has to offer, Meads is in a unique position to dip back into his playing career and offer fresh thoughts and comparisons with the modern game. This story, though, will not simply focus on rugby. It will, inevitably, become something of a social commentary; how professionalism has changed the face of rugby forever; and how the modern player has taken up the challenge and, indeed, the burden of performing in the all-consuming black jersey.