Richie McCaw's big Movember move

Richie McCaw. Photo / Sarah Ivey

New Zealand's most manly man - and most eligible bachelor - is about to take it up a level by growing a thick moustache.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has hung up his rugby boots for the rest of the year and is focusing his energy on growing a moustache.

The All Blacks skipper has entered Movember for the first time and started the upper-lip hair growth while out fishing on a boat.

"I am normally out of the country this time of year but with rugby all finished with 2011 I am going to put my feet up and grow a Mo!," he said on his official Movember page.

McCaw said if sporting a mo for a month could encourage men to take their health more seriously and raise funds and awareness for a great cause, "then let the hairy top lip begin!".

The Herald has created some possible style options McCaw might like to try.

One option is Marc Lievremont's pencil-thin lip warmer, though the French national rugby coach's moustache might be a little too high-maintenance for Southern-man McCaw.

Or perhaps the waxed moustache of the late surrealist painter Salvador Dali could be the winner - if the All Black could commit to the constant twirling and twisting a mo like that requires.

The bushy downward-curving crumb-catcher of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata is probably the best option for McCaw if he could sprout that much hair in one month.

Movember's aim is to raise funds and awareness for men's health - specifically prostate cancer and depression.

After one day of the campaign, McCaw had raised $59 for the cause.