Mentor to watch with pride as Richie McCaw hits 100 caps

The All Blacks have an 87 per cent success rate under Richie McCaw. Photo / Getty Images

Even as a boy, the future All Blacks captain worked hard and knew how to tackle, says coach

Half a world away from the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff an old mentor of arguably New Zealand's greatest rugby player will watch fondly from his couch as his protege creates history.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw will lead New Zealand for the 100th time in his 137th test when they play Wales on Sunday (NZ time) at Millennium Stadium.

The latest milestone of many for McCaw comes a decade after he was first named as captain at the same venue against the same opposition as a 23-year-old in the incumbent Tana Umaga's absence.

Watching from his home in Kurow, south Canterbury, this weekend will be McCaw's first coach, Barney McCone, who drilled the future All Blacks captain for two years before he played his first game in the local under-9 competition.

"He was a very lively player, he had a high workrate and very good skills, right from the word go. I just taught them to catch and pass well, all those basic skills really, and taught them the right way to tackle, head up and back straight and everything.

"But Richie was always very good at it ... probably the best in the team actually."

Mr McCone believed then that McCaw was an All Black in the making and admits to having pangs of pride for himself and his community each time the 33-year-old runs on to the field to represent New Zealand or comes to the Kurow Rugby Club's prizegivings.

A former teacher and coach of McCaw at Otago Boys High School, Brian Ashwin, said the All Blacks captain was ahead of his time even as a schoolboy in terms of what he did at the ruck and tackle time.

He said the "outstanding young man", who was runner-up to the school's dux and won a number of scholarships before he graduated from secondary school, had been put in the right environment and never looked back.

"There's never been a lull in his career, he has just soldiered on and got better and better."

He said any of the traits McCaw was known for now, including his conditioning and durability, were evident when he first played for the school First XV as a fifth former. "He was very fit with superb conditioning and very brave - a lot like he is now - and he was mentally tough. If he had a job to do or task to do he stuck to it," said Mr Ashwin.

"The sort of traits he is admired for now were pretty evident as a 16-year-old."

New Zealand have not lost a test to Wales for 61 years and under McCaw's leadership they have an 87 per cent winning rate.

The TAB has the All Blacks as firm $1.12 favourites to continue their unbeaten run against the Welsh.

Richard Hugh McCaw

• Born: December 31, 1980 in Oamaru

• 1.87m, 108kg

• All Black debut: November 17, 2001 v Ireland at Dublin, aged 20 years, 321 days

• First captained the All Blacks: November 20, 2004 v Wales at Cardiff

5 things about McCaw

1.

The match against Wales at Millennium Stadium on Sunday morning marks just over a decade since McCaw first led the All Blacks.

2.

After 99 tests as captain he has a record of 87 wins, 10 losses and two draws.

3.

He has been named IRB Player of the Year a record three times and has been nominated on eight occasions.

4.

Holds the world record for tries scored by a forward (25).

5.

Rated as the "hardest man in world rugby union" in a recent BBC poll.