NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • Deloitte Fast 50
    • Generate wealth weekly
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Sport / Rugby / All Blacks

Colin Meads turns 80: How Pinetree got his name

Wynne Gray
Wynne Gray
NZ Herald·
2 Jun, 2016 05:00 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Colin Meads got his nickname on a Colts tour. Picture / Christine Cornege

Colin Meads got his nickname on a Colts tour. Picture / Christine Cornege

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Pinetree turns 80 today. Anyone with any interest in rugby knows that means Colin Meads, the legendary All Black lock, has hit another milestone.

Anecdotes about Meads and stories about his feats fill volumes of New Zealand rugby history.

Not so well known is the tale of his nickname and how New Zealand Colts teammate Roger Boon coined the term when they toured Australia and Ceylon in 1955.

"We had a chap down in New Plymouth we called the Whistling Pinetree," Boon recalled.

"He was very tall and very awkward to sit behind at the theatre and he used to walk down our street a lot. We used to call him the Whistling Pinetree in the late 40s and it just came out one day looking at Meads.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think I might have been talking to Ross Brown and said how much that kind of name would suit Colin."

Wynne Gray's 100 Greatest All Blacks: No 4 - Colin Meads

The response, the reaction?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I think he adapted. We're still friends so I guess it came across okay. It might have been a native timber but just Tree sounded good, he was like one. On that first trip, he was only a teenager.

"He always appeared to be big. He was all gristle and muscle, an incredible rugby player and definitely one of the best I ever played with."

Boon went on to be picked for the All Blacks in 1960 as a replacement hooker for the injured Ron Hemi on the tour to South Africa. Boon played six games but injured his neck and missed the last part of the tour.

"I had what they called a broken neck, a vertebra injury and they put me in a big brace around my shoulders but I think Red Conway wore it more than me just to look bigger," Boon said.

Discover more

New Zealand|education

Praise for Pacific charter school

01 Jun 04:33 AM
Super Rugby

A look at Blues high profile signing history

01 Jun 03:09 AM
All Blacks

Destructive Kaino nearing his best

02 Jun 03:38 AM
All Blacks

The point Israel Dagg fell in love with rugby again

02 Jun 05:00 PM

Back home, Boon did not play for a couple of years until he went to a provincial squad training at Stratford, put his head in the first scrum and walked away.

"It was no good, that was it. They said I should have had a bone graft but I never did. I've lived with it, managed it and it's been a bit of a stiff neck but okay."

Boon farmed in Taranaki for a long time and helps out occasionally but is back in town now and has no difficulty filling in his days. His legs are not as co-operative as they were but the 81-year-old gets to the gym every day.

"It's my sport now because my legs are no good for golf and walking is not a nice experience.

"I keep quite busy picking up the weeds.

"I do a fair bit of gossiping and lift a little bit of iron and that keeps me mobile and I have got a huge benefit out of it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Boon has not seen Meads for a while, although they caught up, along with Brian Lochore, at a fundraising reunion evening for New Plymouth Boys' High and he wants to get to an All Black reunion.

"I'd like that because we seem to be running out of a few these days."

Save
    Share this article

Latest from All Blacks

Premium
All Blacks

Rugby Q&A: Liam Napier answers your questions ahead of the Wellington test

11 Sep 10:54 PM
Premium
OpinionGregor Paul

Gregor Paul: The tradies who’ve built a new platform for young players

11 Sep 06:01 PM
Premium
All Blacks

Jet Carter: How a rookie winger flew past an All Blacks veteran

11 Sep 04:00 AM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from All Blacks

Premium
Premium
Rugby Q&A: Liam Napier answers your questions ahead of the Wellington test
All Blacks

Rugby Q&A: Liam Napier answers your questions ahead of the Wellington test

Herald rugby writer Liam Napier answers your questions.

11 Sep 10:54 PM
Premium
Premium
Gregor Paul: The tradies who’ve built a new platform for young players
Gregor Paul
OpinionGregor Paul

Gregor Paul: The tradies who’ve built a new platform for young players

11 Sep 06:01 PM
Premium
Premium
Jet Carter: How a rookie winger flew past an All Blacks veteran
All Blacks

Jet Carter: How a rookie winger flew past an All Blacks veteran

11 Sep 04:00 AM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP