Rugby: Reports claim All Blacks legend Sir Colin Meads extremely unwell

Lady Verna Meads has reportedly confirmed that husband and All Blacks legend Sir Colin is extremely unwell, as he continues to battle pancreatic cancer.

He was not at Waikato hospital, nor was he at his Te Kuiti home, but she declined to give any further information as to his whereabouts and asked media for family privacy.

"He's holding on," Lady Verna told Fairfax. She declined to make any comment when contacted by the Herald.

Meads was diagnosed with the cancer in August 2016.

"If you saw me seven or eight months ago, my health [was] 100 percent better," Meads said in a Herald interview in March.

"I was in a bad way for a long time and I couldn't have walked 20 yards without falling over."

He made 55 test appearances and played in 133 games for the All Blacks between 1957 and 1971, captaining the side on 11 occasions.

Meads is a member of both the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame and World Rugby Hall of Fame, and was named New Zealand Player of the Century in 1999.

The last public appearance the 81-year-old made was in Te Kuiti to unveil his 2.7 metre statue in June.

"I'm sorry I'm not as fit as I used to be," Meads said at the time.