Richie McCaw achieves another record in G.A.B career
WELLINGTON: Richie McCaw will become the most capped player in test rugby in the Bledisloe Cup decider against Australia on Saturday, notching up yet another record in a career that has made him arguably the greatest player to ever wear the All Blacks jersey.
The 34-year-old openside flank joined former Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll on 141 caps in the 27-19 loss to the Wallabies in Sydney last week.
That result has given the Wallabies the chance to reclaim the symbol of trans-Tasman supremacy on Saturday for the first time since they lost it in 2003, and threatens to overshadow McCaw’s milestone.
McCaw, though, is probably quite happy about that.
As co-writer Greg McGee said in the 2012 biography “The Open Side”, McCaw is a private man living a very public life.
He is mindful of his role as All Blacks captain, a position considered the second-most scrutinised job in the rugbymad country behind that of prime minister.
As such, his utterances when in camp rarely provoke controversy. He speaks of team first and downplays expectations.
McCaw exudes gravitas, or to use a uniquely New Zealand aphorism, he has “mana”. When he speaks, people listen. And his teammates follow him even when he, as he is wont to do on occasion, lays down the law according to Richie.
In “The Open Side”, McCaw said he had dreams of making the All Blacks from an early age. Having been invited to the New Zealand under-19 trials, he was asked by his uncle John ‘Biggsy’ McLay what his goals were.
The pair mapped out, on a paper napkin, a planned progression through provincial rugby into Super Rugby and then eventually to the All Blacks side.
“Sign it,” McCaw recalled his uncle asking him. “Sign it Great All Black”.
“I couldn’t bring myself to write the words Great All Black, so I wrote down G.A.B.,” McCaw wrote, adding that he hung the scrap of paper at the back of a cupboard where no one else would see it.
Those teenage aspirations evolved as planned. McCaw, who led New Zealand to their second World Cup title in 2011 on a broken foot, is now widely considered the greatest All Black, surpassing Colin Meads, and holds virtually every record and honour going in international rugby.
A three-time World Player of the Year, he was the first All Black to notch up 100 test caps, has the highest number of wins (124), most games as captain (105) and on Saturday he takes sole possession of the overall caps record from O’Driscoll.
Meanwhile, Australia coach Michael Cheika has insisted there is method in the madness of selecting Quade Cooper as his starting flyhalf at the All Blacks’ fortress where the playmaker’s career was nearly derailed.
Cheika sprung a surprise on Thursday with six changes to the Wallabies side. But it was New Zealand-born Cooper’s reinstatement that caused the biggest waves on social media.
Branded “Public Enemy Number One” during the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand as part of a media-driven campaign to upset the flyhalf, Cooper was jeered relentlessly throughout the country in every match he played.
He appeared shell-shocked at Eden Park in the semi-final demolition by the All Blacks, enduring a poor game to the delight of the sell-out crowd.
“I believe in (Cooper) ... as a person and as a player,” Cheika told reporters at Sydney airport. “From before we played the first game I thought I’d have a look at doing one thing in Sydney and (another) thing in Auckland.
“The game changes every week. I think if we just stay the same all the time, we’ll become real easy to pick, perhaps.” – Reuters
Kickoff, 9.35am SA time.