McCaw primed for breakdown battle

All Black flanker Richie McCaw training in Durban. Picture / Fotopress

DURBAN - Star flanker Richie McCaw eased fears of another hard luck tour of South Africa by confidently declaring his ability to complete the All Blacks formidable Tri-Nations rugby assignment against the Springboks in Cape Town on Saturday.

On his last visit to the republic with the Crusaders in April he was knocked out cold by former Springboks prop Richard Bands tree trunk-like thigh a minute into the clash with the Bulls.

This time the trouble started before McCaw boarded the plane when he contracted a mumps-like virus at the All Blacks training camp last week.

Although he has been able to train fully this week coach Graham Henry had been concerned about whether his vice-captain would be able to survive the 80 minutes at Newlands.

However, the key loose forward erased any anxiety about his fitness after the All Blacks last intensive training session here today.

"I'm feeling pretty good to be fair. It didn't take too much out of me -- I was pretty lucky," the Cantabrian said, ahead of his pivotal head-to-head battle with 2004 International Rugby Board player of the year Schalk Burger.

The talented, though yellow card-prone, Western Province flanker is the closest South Africa have to a genuine openside and his battle at the breakdown with McCaw promises to have a major bearing on whether the Springboks are unbeaten when they embark on their Tri-Nations road trip to Perth and Dunedin later this month.

Burger's promotion to the starting line-up was confirmed by coach Jake White today, a decision McCaw anticipated.

"I was expecting him to play and with (Joe) van Niekerk and Juan Smith, they've got a pretty good loose trio."

Impressed with the Springbok loosies in their back-to-back wins over the Wallabies, McCaw reiterated the popular belief that the South Africans will prove a far tougher challenge than the disappointing Lions.

"Our feeling is they're going to offer a lot more. They're a bit more skillful in terms of doing things around the paddock.

"They (the loose trio) have been helped by their tight five at set piece time and their backs have given them good go forward as well."

Burger's selection at the expense of Jacque Cronje in a revamped back row means White has nine of the players that started against the All Blacks in the 40-26 win at Ellis Park last year in the run-on side at Newlands.

The All Blacks have five survivors from that crushing defeat 12 months ago, including Waikato-bound fullback Mils Muliaina, who now finds himself in unfamiliar territory on the left wing.

Muliaina, who was surprised to be selected ahead of Joe Rokocoko, joked he could not remember the last time he played on the left flank, eventually narrowing it down to "three or four years ago" for Auckland.

The 29-test veteran started against Argentina and England on the right wing last season and was confident he could make a smooth transition.

Building up communication lines with fullback Leon MacDonald and Rico Gear were the priority at training this week as they anticipate an aerial bombardment from tactical kickers Andre Pretorius and Percy Montgomery.

"They can kick the ball across the field so we've been doing a lot of talking about how to cover it," he said.

The All Blacks fly to Cape Town today with no serious health or injury concerns. Halfback Byron Kelleher and prop Tony Woodcock, who were excused yesterday after picking up a stomach bug, returned to training today.

- NZPA