Rugby: No Richie, no problem

McCaw was left out to recover from a bruised thigh and the world didn't come to a halt. Photo / Brett Phibbs

NO RICHIE, no biggy.

If ever there was evidence of how far this All Black side has evolved it came when the team to play Tonga was named.

McCaw was left out to recover from a bruised thigh and the world didn't come to a halt.

There was no need for the coaches to debate the contingency on the playing or captaincy front. Sam Cane would take the No7 shirt and Kieran Read would be the skipper and it would just about be business as usual.

While the All Blacks would rather their skipper was playing, they don't fear being without him like they used to. They can play good football without him.

But that wasn't the case in 2011. McCaw didn't play against Japan in the pool round and Adam Thomson, a natural No6, was hustled to the openside.

When McCaw missed the game against Canada, Victor Vito took the No7 jersey and Andrew Hore the captaincy.

The All Blacks had neither an obvious nor proven alternative at openside or skipper at the last World Cup - hence the anxiety about McCaw's broken foot.

If he hadn't been able to fight his way through it, the All Blacks probably wouldn't have won. The collective decision-making wasn't there. They had experienced players, but not really experienced leaders.

It's all so different now.