All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw powers forward against the Wallabies
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Robert Kitson looks at the love affair between New Zealanders and All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw in The Guardian.
"New Zealand has changed substantially over the past two decades. Farewell the long white cloud; welcome to the land of the long flat white. What will forever remain is the pressure on the serving All Black captain. Richie McCaw, the present keeper of the flame, is required to be a simultaneous mix of Sir Edmund Hillary, Colin "Pine Tree" Meads and Mother Theresa. He has done a sterling job; you could travel to the furthest corners of the North and South Islands and still find not a soul with a bad word to say about him.
"Because McCaw is the embodiment of how most Kiwis like to see themselves: uncomplaining, modest, durable and resourceful. "He's very, very bright, he's brave and he's talented," said Graham Henry . "It's not a bad combination." Wayne Smith, the All Blacks's backs coach, is similarly fulsome. "Probably the same things characterise him as a player and a leader. He's bright, he's humble, he comes from a rural background so he's tough, he never gets too far ahead of himself and he's hugely resilient." McCaw on one leg, in other words, is better than most players on two."
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