What Sir Colin 'Pinetree' Meads has done as a player, administrator, coach and manager is one of the greatest contributions that anyone will give the All Blacks.
I was very fortunate to come on to the All Black scene on the tour of France and Italy in 1995 when he was managing the team with Laurie Mains as coach - their last tour in connection with the All Blacks.
Pinetree made me very aware of what it meant to be an All Black and I recall clearly early on in that tour, as a young kid from Mataura, almost being too scared to look at him.
One night I was in a bar and he saw me and said, "boy, come and sit down for a pint", at which point my face went ashen white.
He had a formidable reputation as a player but also as a man who liked a beer.
