McCaw: Kiwis struggle to revel in success

Richie McCaw kisses the William Webb Ellis trophy after the 2011 Rugby World Cup final. Photo / Greg Bowker

Richie McCaw reckons Kiwis need to celebrate the good times more than they do.

The legendary All Black is not known as a wildly emotional character but contrary to some perceptions perhaps, he does not simply move on to the next game each week.

McCaw, preparing for his last test in hometown Christchurch against Argentina tomorrow night, told Newstalk ZB's Mike Hosking Breakfast show that he did take time each week to celebrate previous performances.

And while it will come as no surprise that life on the field is not always a picnic, he said the only really enjoyable time was immediately after games.

"People ask me if I really enjoy what I do and the first up answer is of course I do - I love what I do," said the man many rate as the greatest All Black of all time.

"But sometimes when it is hard out on the field, you feel knackered, I don't know if you call that fun. I've learnt it's not always fun training and the games are not what you call fun - it's the satisfaction of getting the job done, sitting around with a bunch of mates afterwards with a smile on the face."

McCaw said the satisfaction for players was in delivering on the detail, but he said that New Zealanders in general struggled to revel in success.

"It's one of the things I don't think we do very well as All Blacks, as New Zealand rugby players, Kiwis as a whole. We move on to the next thing quickly and don't want to get carried away," he said.

"And (the reaction) is determined by what the result was. We try to do it as a team and individuals in that moment after a game...take a moment to say I did a good job that weekend, I played well, walk around with a smile on the face without getting carried away.

"If you just keep moving on all the time, it gets to a point where you stop enjoying it. You need to reflect with family and friends after the game, and not think about next week too much...that's how we try to do it.

"After Tuesday trainings before the team goes out to dinner, we have a beer or a soft drink together and reflect that we are doing something that we love doing.

"I think at times we convince ourselves we can't talk about rugby because we need to switch off but at the end of the day that's what we're passionate about. We do talk about rugby a lot but we have the moments to take the piss out of each other, and talk about other things."