Compare that with Wallaby captain David Pocock, who led the side for just the fourth time last night, which gives him the same test captaincy experience as South Africa's Jean de Villiers.
Australia and the Springboks are in the unusual position of entering the Rugby Championship with rookie captains, neither of whom is the first choice skipper.
Pocock is covering for the injured James Horwill, while de Villiers has been given the job only until the end of the year - it was initially just for the June tests. Even then, he was only appointed on the eve of the series after Matfield and du Preez ruled out dramatic comebacks and Juan Smith and Burger picked up injuries.
Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe has been Argentina's vice-captain since 2008 - acting as captain on several occasions when Felipe Contepomi was injured - but he, like the rest of his team, has never played in this competition.
It doesn't necessarily present as a fair fight; there's the wise, old McCaw, now armed with the confidence and skills to impose himself on the officials, his opponents, his team-mates and the game, and there are three rival captains, all a little unsure of their rights, roles and capacity to make an impact.
McCaw and Ireland's Brian O'Driscoll are the only two captains in world rugby who have the longevity, experience, standing and respect to influence tests by sheer force of personality. McCaw offers much more than manipulating officials; his calm authority and certainty of purpose have been critical features of the national side since 2010.
That was the year he broke through to become the commanding captain the All Blacks hadn't really had since Sean Fitzpatrick. Since 2010, McCaw has displayed the art of making ice-cool decisions in the midst of red-hot battle: his tactical appreciation has grown and his team-mates talk now of various times he has inspired them with his poise, conviction and clarity.
McCaw's leadership makes a difference, particularly as he's supported by a wider group of senior All Blacks who have learned how to feed their experience into the collective mix. Much like the Boks of 2009, the All Blacks of 2012 have leaders and influencers throughout the team: Keven Mealamu, Andrew Hore, Tony Woodcock, Kieran Read, Dan Carter and Conrad Smith.
Test rugby is all about dealing with pressure and knowing how to apply it and the All Blacks have the personnel to consider themselves best equipped to do that.
"We are lucky that we have a lot of guys who were involved last year and are still here, and we have to use that as a positive," says McCaw. "We have a group of really experienced guys who we have to use well. The danger with that is that if you think you just have to roll up and it will happen . . . We have to make sure we go back to the start and prepare well, do all the things that make sure you turn up on Saturday. Hopefully we have the guys who know how to do all that and hopefully that is a positive. If we turn up and meander along, then we will be undone pretty quick - that's the nature of test footy."
In Super Rugby, McCaw made his experience tell. There was little doubt referees granted him more leeway to query decisions; just as apparent was the way he was able to provide advice, helpful or otherwise, to ensure the Crusaders were rarely on the end of harsh calls.
He stepped that up again in June when, in the second test against Ireland, he inspired his team to an outstanding last five minutes where they pulled the game out of the fire. Was it coincidence that in those five minutes, a couple of crucial calls by referee Nigel Owens favoured the All Blacks? The All Blacks had been poor up until then and it takes a special team, with special leaders, to salvage a victory from the embers of defeat.
Things were a little different in South Africa, where de Villiers had to feel his way into the job in a three-test series against England.
"He did make some mistakes but none of them were terminal," Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said of his skipper in SA Rugby magazine.
"Growing great captains happens in matches like the third test. That would have been an education for Jean. It happened with Victor [Matfield] at the Bulls. He lost often early in his captaincy and people were adamant he was a poor leader. I believed in him and he eventually used the lessons learned in that period to make himself one of the great captains of the Bulls and later the Springboks. I'm not saying you only learn through defeat, but Jean needs to be in tough situations to grow into the captain he has the potential to become."
Pocock had to battle just as hard to handle his new role. His form was excellent in the three-test series against Wales in June and that made it easier to captain the side. But how will he cope when his side is under pressure in the next six weeks, his forwards on the back foot and the intensity almost crushing?
"It does take time to be able to do both [excel as an openside and captain]," says McCaw.
"How you get your own game right and how you lead well, that doesn't happen overnight. Each time you think you have it sorted, you look back and realise that you have learned a bit. You look to put pressure on him [Pocock] as a player and then you look to put more heat on the rest of the team. That doesn't happen but we have to make sure we try to do that."
