All Blacks captain Richie McCaw during the match against Argentina. Photo / Mark Mitchell
In exciting games and bad; at test, Super or provincial levels; rain, hail or shine; trench warfare or flamboyant fare. The more you see of Richie McCaw, the more you must marvel.
There was more to slosh than gush over as underdogs Argentina kept the hint of an upset alive
in the waterlogged air on Saturday night.
As you peered through the rain there he was, R. McCaw, All Black captain and legend, on the Man of the Match leaderboard yet again. How the heck does he keep on keeping on in this relentless, bone-crunching arena? Rugby is so confrontational and tangled it may have overtaken league in toughness, but McCaw never flinches.
Remember too that he hardly ever gets substituted or rested. Remember also how the veteran was nobbled, yet hardly hobbled, during last year's World Cup on a foot injury that would have lowered more than a few.
Who is the greatest All Black? This has become a debatable topic because the game has changed so much. Highly prepared professionals would run riot in the days of Sir Colin Meads if a time machine could take them there. Modern rugby is about as close to that 1960s stuff as soccer is to hockey.
