KEY POINTS:
With an aura that mirrors that of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, he lumbers up to the sheltered section of Stadium Pahiatua.
The hint of a shuffle is a reminder of Colin "Pinetree" Meads' rigorous working life in the paddocks of his recently sold King Country farm. Rugby fans, treasuring memories of his awe-inspiring feats with the funny-shaped pigskin ball on the man-made 100m paddock, will argue otherwise.
While the halcyon days of his 55-test All Black era may be vivid in many minds it's quite obvious the indomitable Pinetree is inevitably ageing - 71 years old in fact, he points out after politely excusing himself from his table at the 2008 Infracon Tararua Sportsperson of the Year Awards dinner on Thursday night before planting his 1.92m, 102kg frame in a chair that almost begs for forgiveness for attempting to shoulder such a privileged weight.
"I don't have any notes or anything," says Meads, placing his handle of beer on a gymnasium stand.
Regal in his symbolic black-and-white formal attire, the former All Black lock/loosie's impromptu delivery after the interview stuns the awards night audience with his remarks on the Tricker-Heron Report - the post mortem on the dismal World Cup last year in France and Britain. "I say sack the whole lot of the bastards [administrators]," he bellows to thunderous applause and laughter. "I could have told them all those things well before the report came out."
He puts the downturn in interest in the national game to the below-par performance in the World Cup.
"We have been promised so much by coaches. The past three [All Blacks] coaches' opening statement, when they got their jobs, was: 'You give me what I want and I'll give you the World Cup'."
Meads said NZRU got rid of John Mitchell but allowed incumbent Graham Henry to go to France with twice as many staff and money.
"He ruined New Zealand rugby by taking the players out of the Super 14 rugby at the wrong time of the year.
"He admits that his rotation policy was not right and we still selected this man.
"When the report was out [this month] the only one who was discredited was Richie McCaw because he didn't instruct someone to have a dropped goal. Yet Graham Henry swears he sent down messages to them. What the bloody hell is rugby coming to? You have someone sitting in the box and trying to get a message to the captain.
"In our days we weren't even allowed to leave the field at halftime. Once the game was on the captain was in charge and you never even heard from the coach until after the game.
"I think we're getting over-coached and over- organised. You now have four selectors, a tackling coach, a scrum coach, a lineout coach and you have a couple of technical advisers. Now, which of those buggers do you have to listen to?"
In his era, they had one coach and if they didn't listen to him there was hell to pay. Fred Allen was a "cruel" coach and the modern All Blacks wouldn't have been able to handle him or his stringent training regime.
"We've become too technical. I heard a player say on Monday that they have light training and watch a videotape with this video analyst bloke telling them which side the ball and player are going and all that.
"Well, how bloody boring can that get after a while and how confusing is that?" Meads asks, claiming the collective are guilty of turning raw talent into manufacturing games.
He laments the culture where All Black coaches and selectors are now going around the country to Super 14 franchise teams to conduct their training.
"How can you coach five teams who are all different? You coach individuals."
He bemoans the lack of tours from the yesteryear and the lack of "social life" in the rugby culture, especially pertaining to aftermatch functions when ticket-holders were traditionally invited to mingle with players over a few drinks.
He chastises the before and aftermatch programmes in the current atmosphere, labelling it "unbelievable with those warm-downs, warm-ups that take up three-quarters of an hour before the game".
"I never did a bloody thing before I got on to the field. I did a haka and now I'm ready for the match - that was the warm-up," he says with a laugh. "I know everyone is different but we're just overdoing it."
Meads says the New Zealand media was highly critical when former England and British Lions coach Sir Clive Woodward travelled here with 29 officials.
That year Sir Clive added an opthamologist to his contingent to help players' "scope of vision". He juxtaposed that with former Springbok Martin Pelser, who played with a glass eye after losing an eye as a child in a motor crash. "He was a Transvaal player then and he pelted [the late ] Kel Tremain once. Kel turned around to me and said 'Piney, you're going to be the No.6 for the rest of the game'," said Meads of former Magpie Tremain, who was his regular room- mate during tours.
- HAWKE'S BAY TODAY
