World Cup passion burns bright for McCaw

Richie McCaw says the desire to go out into battle on the rugby field becomes 'almost a selfish thing'. Photo / Getty Images

Richie McCaw handles demanding duties with rare discipline and drive, writes Wynne Gray.

A decade of test rugby. Just think of it; imagine that physical toll and all the mental anguish in the collisions where Richard Hugh McCaw has built his envied All Black reputation.

His body and skills have altered since he first pulled on the famed black jersey at Lansdowne Rd in Dublin in late 2001, but nothing has changed in his passion to be the best and do his country proud.

He is nearing a century of internationals and has added to his storied career in countless provincial and Super rugby matches.

His time is rarely his own, but McCaw remains the polite and level-natured man he was when he first ran into the international rugby spotlight.

It has scarcely been different since that day. McCaw is a marked man on and off the track, but handles his all-consuming duties with a rare discipline. He has improved his time management and says that has been essential in keeping up high standards on the field.

"You have to be organised," he says. "And I think that helps with the consistency of play because you have to do that each week while you also have to fit in a lot of other things.

"There are guys I see who have brilliant games and are then poor the next. They don't know what they have to do to get themselves in that good state each weekend and you learn from that as you go."

That international life for McCaw started against Ireland in November 2001. His selection for the end-of-year tour came as a shock to many.

None of McCaw's teammates that day still play test rugby. A few, such as Tana Umaga, Andrew Mehrtens, Byron Kelleher, Reuben Thorne, Chris Jack and Greg Somerville, still play below international level.

Ireland's centre that day, Brian O'Driscoll, captains their 2011 World Cup squad. McCaw's rival that afternoon, David Wallace, was picked to be in the squad but wrecked his knee recently and is out of the sport for at least six months.

"Wallace started before me and he gave me his jersey after that test and said not to worry about swapping jerseys. It was a great gesture that I won't forget," McCaw says.

"I'm starting to feel a bit old when I realise I am the only All Black left from that team. But I suppose I have the same sort of passion those Irish guys have for the game and that is why we keep on doing it."

Paths to test selection are often forked and laced with fortune.

McCaw boarded at secondary school in Dunedin and might have stayed to try his luck with Otago but one-test All Black Sam Harding was in the area. So McCaw shifted to Canterbury, where his talents were spotted for the Crusaders, then John Mitchell and Robbie Deans with the All Blacks.

"I'm sure I would have stayed in Dunedin had Harding not been there and I've thought about it a few times and I'm sure I would not have been an All Black as soon as I was if I had stayed down south.

"But the opportunities arose for a seven up in Canterbury and it's all gone from there."

Now McCaw heads for his third World Cup, his second as leader, and that incredible feat of 100 tests for the All Blacks.

As his original All Black coach would say: "It's been a hell of a journey."

In 2003, McCaw was part of a World Cup side which fell to a Wallabies outfit who had posed them few problems that year.

But that exit was nothing compared with the 18-20 defeat to France in Cardiff four years later, a quarter-final exit, the earliest in the All Blacks' tournament history and a shock which reverberated around New Zealand rugby.

Alongside McCaw this year are Daniel Carter, Mils Muliaina, Ali Williams and Tony Woodock - survivors from that night in Cardiff.

"You have got to learn from those experiences," he says. "I was pretty upset all right, because first of all I felt we didn't play like we should have. We were better than we showed that day but that was a lesson in itself.

"Just because we thought we were good enough does not mean that you are, because you have to go out and do the job.

"Afterwards when you feel you haven't done what you said you would do, there are a lot of disappointed people in the team and the country, and I suppose you feel responsible for that."

The public response to that defeat is well known. But, for McCaw, the personal aftermath was inevitable and ugly. The "what-ifs" and "whys" kept roaming around in his thoughts. Quiet times were tough, the inquisitors were relentless. It lasted for weeks with McCaw before he was able to move on.

"You could sit there and sulk, but just because you have lost one game does not mean you have become a bad rugby player and that's the bit you have to remember," he says.

"So you can get straight back on the horse and into the next campaign. You learn from the experiences and aim to be a better team and a better player and it gets to this point where you give yourself another chance."

McCaw does not make a conscious effort to recall that ugly 2007 night in Cardiff, but does draw on the experience and suspects it makes him a better leader and player.

"Having gone through that - and perhaps in 2009 too when we lost three in a row to the Springboks - you can start questioning yourself.

"You have a choice. Either stand up from that or chuck it.

"The experiences are tough to cop at the time, but if we get to October 23 and get the result we are after, you might say what happened last time was the best thing for us," says McCaw.

"But really, many of the experiences right up until you run out in a knockout tournament do not mean too much.

"If you acknowledge that and you realise there are times when the pressure is on in games when the team has to do what is required, you just go out there and do what you can."

Since McCaw started his test career, the game has changed enormously. It is more physical and players are being asked to do far more preparation, planning and conditioning.

The 30-year-old does not have any self-help or meditation books by his bed but acknowledges the power of the mind.

"It is the strongest weapon in all top sport and it can be the difference if you don't get that right," he says.

That shows with players who have been involved in international rugby for some time and McCaw's mental approach has changed during his career.

When he started he was just desperate to play well and show he could cut it as an All Black.

Then he got to the point where he was a seasoned test player and had to learn about getting to another level.

"For me it is about being a good or great All Black. You want to leave a legacy of your time here and you want the team to leave a legacy of the games you have been involved in.

"I think of guys who have been here for some time like Mils [Muliaina] and Brad [Thorn] and that's what keeps them going. Brad still thinks he can be a better rugby player and he works to do that, it is what drives him."

McCaw finds regular empathy with former All Black captain and Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder, as they spend much of their season together.

McCaw says Blackadder helps him with ideas about leadership, and they are men of similar groundings and ideas.

"I dunno how you end up with that desire to want to go out into battle all the time. It becomes almost a selfish thing, but you know you have to do your bit for the team.

"You have to want to perform every week and that is selfish, but it is necessary too."

McCaw says he is intrigued by the changing demographics in the All Blacks and how the side gels. The team has been fortunate to be able to draw on those combined skills, says the captain, with different cultures bringing different strengths.

He has learned that since his 2001 start.

"You want to earn the trust of senior players, but you don't get that until they see you can perform. It is the same in this team.

"No matter what a player's background, as long as they go out and perform each week and they are standing alongside you when it really gets tough.

"You have got to earn their respect and that goes both ways. I think the diverse players and backgrounds gives us a broader strength and we need to acknowledge that."

McCaw is not one to shy away from interaction with the fourth estate. He likes to read the newspaper each morning to tap into the world around him.

The media are the conduit for the public to stay in touch with the All Blacks, he says.

Some players still get too wound up about what they read or in personal battles with journalists, he says.

"You accept that is part of what you do as a rugby player and if we didn't have it, jeez, no one would take any interest."

But he says he does get frustrated by media outlets taking potshots at the team from the safety of their offices or studios. Nor does he like some of the personal inquiries or social muckraking some organisations seem to concentrate on.

Right now all his concentration is on the seventh World Cup. And after that?

Whatever happens, McCaw intends to feel the thermals gliding at Omarama in central Otago, taking some deep breaths and contemplating the events of the next two months as he indulges in his other great sporting love, flying.

"It is the closest thing you have to wings on your back. I will just think about that and mix with people who are just concerned about that sport.

"I am not great at it, but I understand it and want to be better because each day I find out something new and that is the key."