It was big news here and it turns out it made waves in the US of A with Sports Illustrated naming Richie McCaw's retirement as one of the biggest sports stories of the year.
McCaw announced earlier last month he would be swapping helicopter sunglasses for rugby boots after 14years with the All Blacks. Rugby fans mourned nearly as much as the previous day when it was announced Jonah Lomu had died.
"I'm hanging up my boots having accomplished everything I could have ever dreamed about in the game," McCaw said.
Sports Illustrated has more than three million subscribers and is said to be read by 23 million people each week.
