The All Blacks were obviously the best team on the night of the final, but they did struggle to beat a team that had lost to Tonga in pool play (no offence Tonga).
In fact, strangely it was the hard-fought nature of matches which should have been walkovers that made the cup victory seem such an amazing achievement.
The biggest "but" of all? It's too early. If Sir Richie was to win another World Cup in four years, does he get a double knighthood?
He's a young man (relative to me) with plenty left to achieve, both on the rugby field and later off it. It'd be like being the subject of This Is Your Life when you've got decades of life left to live.
I'm not sure there are any lessons from our English cousins, but it's worth noting that of their 1966 football World Cup winning team, only Sir Bobby Charlton and hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst were knighted, in 1998 and 1994 respectively. Coach Sir Alf Ramsey was knighted in 1967.
Their rugby team won the 2003 World Cup, resulting in honours including a knighthood for coach Clive Woodward and a CBE (one level below a knighthood) for captain Martin Johnson.
There's probably another two elements worth considering.
One, we're a nation that loves to take aim at tall poppies. The naysayers and sports-haters would have had a field day with Sir Richie.
And two, this may be a stereotype, but the Kiwi male can be a humble bloke at times, and faced with recognition of greatness it might seem the right thing to do to turn it down.
Richie McCaw's time will come, ideally accompanied by another World Cup triumph.
