Last week, Richie McCaw passed my record of test wins as an All Black, and with 48 matches as captain he is fast approaching my record of 51 tests as skipper. All being well, he’ll have overhauled me before the end of the year.
People have been asking me how I feel about Richie beating my records; and I can tell you that I am delighted for him. If you’re going to relinquish a record, it might as well be to a guy who has got an 88% win rate, who is the perfect embodiment of what All Black rugby is about, and who in his career so far has won international newcomer of the year, New Zealand player of the year twice, and IRB player of the year a couple of times too. He is, no doubt, a class act.
Even from before the time Richie made his full test debut in Dublin against the Irish, I, like many others within the game, had been watching his career and his development with increasing interest. I managed the Under 21 NZ side for a while and both Richie and Mils Muliaina (another class act and long-timer) were part of that team. Even at that stage he was already showing signs of having leadership ability and in fact he ended up captaining the side when Aaron Major got injured. Although Richie was still green in terms of leading a national side, he did so with efficiency and insight.
His game has continued to develop very nicely since then. In my opinion, today he is the world’s best open side flanker; he has an irresistible combination of skills and attributes that he brings to bear on the game. He is a big unit, and he hits hard of course, but he has also become a hugely effective player at the breakdown, where he seems to win more ball than anyone else, consistently. He possesses the quick thinking, speed and intelligence to link play together and provide continuity to the team, and he has an engine on him that keeps running at full throttle from kick off to final whistle.
He first captained the All Blacks in 2004 against Wales, aged just 23. Looking back now, it is clear that Henry spotted the leadership potential and blooded him early, exposing him to the added complications of captaincy in what turned out to be a tight game. I remember eyebrows being raised at the time, but by 2006 he was the main man and ready to lead the All Blacks. He took on the role and has grown in stature and approach ever since. It took him a while to bed in of course – I think it probably took me two or three years before I became fully comfortable with being captain of the national team – but throughout his tenure he has matured to the point where he is now a real top-drawer asset. In addition to his superb play (he’s always first name on the team-sheet) he has clearly developed a good working relationship with Graham Henry, he has a clear point of view on playing matters, and is making a significant contribution to the management, development and motivation of the All Black playing group.
On the pitch, the team under his leadership display a work ethic and focus that comes in no small part from the example that Richie sets, but perhaps one of the key areas of strength that Richie is developing is that of working with – some might say managing – the referees. It is a key ingredient and a fact of life that successful on-pitch captaincy means being able to develop a rapport with the man with the whistle, so that you can confirm interpretations, clarify decisions, and inevitably, try to get the best deal you can for your team.
I recognised it as a core responsibility when I was captain, and I worked hard to be visible, respectful and enquiring toward the ref. It might have annoyed the opposition every once in a while, but then again, they’re the opposition, so no real harm done. I see the same approach from McCaw.
These days of course, players and referees know each other better than ever – with a small pool of top flight officials and up to 15 internationals a year, they bump into each other much more regularly than in my day, but the same principles are at play though. You have to get noticed and make refs warm to you, because if you do, you can talk to them throughout the game, pointing out specific elements that you’d like them to look at, or highlighting issues that perhaps they haven’t yet clocked. It does also mean that when a difficult split-second decision has to be made about you, the referee might give you the benefit of the doubt – as I suspect may have happened at the weekend, where McCaw survived a potential yellow card incident … on that evidence, Richie would certainly seem to be learning the art of playing referees.
Because of his position, he has to live right on the edge of the boundaries set by the laws, but in that game I saw him play some of the best rugby I’ve ever seen him play. He successfully married both sides of the old and new law interpretations, his ball-grubbing on the ground was second to none, and his linking and continuity were a real catalyst to get the team moving. So I admire Richie both as a player and a captain, and I will be the first to congratulate him as he passes my captaincy record. I hope that he goes on for a few more years yet as well.
I am taking genuine delight in watching him build his own legacy, and in watching his team grow around him. It is the responsibility of every All Black, and particularly the captain, to make his own mark on the New Zealand game, and Richie is doing that in spades.
And you know what I like best of all about McCaw? It is the fact that, when all is said and done, he is a pure competitor, through and through. While we journalists, media people, rugby fans and pundits will all be looking at Richie becoming a record-breaking All Black, and celebrating his achievements, you sense that he has his eye firmly fixed on unfinished business. You sense that Richie would trade everything he has achieved in the game so far – in a heartbeat – if it would mean delivering the Rugby World Cup, at home, in 2011.
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