McCaw ready to speak out

Richie McCaw appeals to referee Joel Jutge in the match against the Springboks in Wellington, making sure his point of view is being heard. Ross Land / Getty Images

It was a rare sight from All Black skipper Richie McCaw. He was animated, stridently vocal, as he questioned referee Joel Jutge last week during the victory against the Springboks.

There was no intention by McCaw to raise his leadership profile in his sixth test as captain. It was not an approach he had been working on, nor something he was conscious of after the retirement of Tana Umaga.

"I thought against Aussie in the first test I hardly said anything at all to the ref, but last week I certainly did. The reason was that there were things we had identified which were not happening for us, and I wanted to make the ref aware of it."

His leadership philosophy, he said, was to avoid debate with a referee unless there were persistent grievances. The All Blacks felt compromised by Jutge's scrum rulings, and he intervened.

"We were not getting things the way we wanted and my role is to make sure we did, to make sure our point of view is being heard if we think it needs to be. It was about getting enough room for the hit.

"Their tighthead was doing something that I didn't really understand, but I was trying to let the ref and the match officials know and to have a better look at it."

Responsibilities as All Black captain had not made McCaw more anxious, but time to himself was reduced because of the extra duties he had to deal with off the field, he said.

As yet he had not felt really consistent heat on his captaincy throughout a test, although he acknowledged that his first test in charge, against Wales in 2004, was pretty tense as the All Blacks ground out a solitary point victory.

This season the opposition had created problems, but only in patches.

"If you get into those situations like that test in Wales, when you get under the pump, you have to trust your training, your planning and react the same," McCaw said. "One or two chances either way can make the difference at the highest level, and you have to make those count."

McCaw heads into combat again tonight against opensider George Smith, who is playing his 66th test for the Wallabies.

This week gnarled Wallaby forward assistant Alex Evans rated Smith as the best player in their side, someone who played a better allround game than McCaw.

"He gives you so much for the full 80 minutes, and when the pack improves more as a unit, [Smith's] individual stamp will be all the greater," Evans said.

You won't get any argument from McCaw about Smith's ability.

"In the first test, where their tight five was probably beaten by ours, he was still bloody effective and I made the comment to Steve Hansen, 'Imagine if he had been in our team'.

"He doesn't always do what you expect, but he turns up at the right place, he has that knack of picking his time.

"When I play against him at the breakdown there is always heat on there. You always have to keep an eye out for him. Other guys back him up, and often he will not turn up at the first breakdown because he knows we will be looking for him. When he turns up at the next he is more effective, so that is the sign of a pretty good footballer."

A week off after this Brisbane test would be a boost. It was time to get away from the intensity of the Tri-Nations programme, go back to the farm, do some flying.

"I knew what my workload was going to be and that is okay. After a rest we will be revved up again for another Bledisloe at Eden Park."

The immediate task, he said, was to claim that silverware tonight in Brisbane, a venue where the Wallabies felt at ease after six successive wins there.

The Wallabies insisted they lost the opening test at Christchurch - they would not concede the All Blacks won it. That attitude made them such a defiant opposition.

"They are always there, they never go away."


The experts pick

Greg Growden, Sydney Morning Herald: All Blacks. They will dominate the scrum again, Rodney Blake won't make the required impact up front for the Wallabies.

Peter Jenkins, Daily Telegraph: All Blacks. They will maintain their edge up front which will stifle Stephen Larkham's ability to get his backline going.

Wynne Gray, NZ Herald: All Blacks. They have yet to put a top-quality performance together this season but this is the second run for the A team. If the lineout holds, the All Blacks' quality across the park will come through.

David Leggat, NZ Herald: All Blacks. Just. Expect Australia to be tougher than in Christchurch, but Dan Carter to do the business on the back of the pack power.