All Blacks: McCaw playing himself into our history

Richie McCaw is one of the best ever All Black captains. Photo / Getty Images

Jock Hobbs can see it now, that he never stood a chance of taking a more prominent place in the public consciousness. He was a good All Black openside flanker, just unfortunate that he took the jersey from Graham Mourie and handed it on to Michael Jones.

Josh Kronfeld took it from Jones and then came Richie McCaw, the man still very much in possession. Hobbs can see that, in such company, he was not the shining light.

Mourie captained the All Blacks to a Grand Slam in 1978. He was an elegant runner; a great thinker and class act. But he can't claim to be the best either. Kronfeld was a dynamo, a fetching openside who spent the 1995 World Cup as if he was glued to Jonah Lomu. He was everywhere - yet he can't make claim to being the best.

Jones, of course, can. What an athlete - a wing with the power base, tackling skills and presence to play on the openside. A deeply religious man, it was if he played with God at his side; certainly he summoned spiritual assistance when he put men down and those he tackled needed divine intervention to get back up.

When Jones was in his prime, he ruled the world. For many New Zealanders, there simply couldn't be a better No7. Now there is.

McCaw played his 80th test this morning. He captained the All Blacks for the 43rd time. It's easy to look at a landmark like 80 tests and dismiss it in this age where the All Blacks play 14 games in a season. Even with All Black tests falling out of trees, the caps still have to be earned.

McCaw has been at this for nine years and never once had a bad game. He's had a couple of quiet games - but they are quiet only by his standards.

Young Tanerau Latimer would die a happy man if he managed to perform as well as McCaw in one of the captain's quieter games.

McCaw's 80 tests are testament to his astonishing consistency. Pretenders to the throne such as Marty Holah and Chris Masoe have come and gone - they couldn't budge McCaw. In nine years, McCaw hasn't dropped his guard or suffered a blip that has opened the door for anyone to stake a claim.

That's remarkable and astonishing given the physical punishment that comes with his position. Openside is the one place where there is nowhere to hide.

Ahead of this morning's test All Black blindside Jerome Kaino talked about the players who inspired him; players he wants to model his game on. Jerry Collins was one, the other was McCaw.

"I want to be more like Richie when it comes to the breakdown," said Kaino. "He knows he's going to get smashed the majority of the time, but he still sticks his head in there and 90 per cent of the time he comes out with the ball."

McCaw has been smashed for 80 tests and never once shirked his role. He takes it and his resilience is as much a reason as any to start thinking of him as the best openside ever produced by New Zealand.

But there is so much more to McCaw than just his ability to soak up the physical punishment. He exists as two entities - McCaw the player and McCaw the captain.

As player, his game has stayed pretty much how it was when he was named man of the match on his test debut in Dublin in 2001. He hasn't evolved, like Jones did, into a more effective operator on the other side of the scrum and nor does he intend to.

"I'm quite happy to cover there," he said of blindside and No 8 which he will be covering this morning in case of injuries, "and it's another string to the bow to be able to do that. It gives the selectors an opportunity to use different people.

"But it probably means I'm doing something wrong if someone else has got my spot at 7. I always play my best if I'm playing at 7."

He hasn't evolved because he hasn't had to. His pace remains, or if it is slipping then it goes unnoticed because his anticipation is so good; his running lines so polished and instinctive he can get places quicker than those with more gas.

He makes an obscene number of tackles - in last year's Super 14 222. No other player broke 200. He carries the ball more than ever and was nominated as an IRB Player of the Year.

The ultimate proof of his form retention came last week when, on his 79th cap, he was named man of the match, just as he was on his debut.

"He's got a huge desire for himself to play well," says coach Graham Henry. "He's got a huge desire to lead the All Blacks and be successful. I think everybody gets better with experience and Richie will be no exception to that. He's right up there, isn't he, with the very best."

Henry has been one of McCaw's most loyal supporters having first handed him the captaincy in 2004. It was a job McCaw's talents always made him destined to fulfil and much of Henry's discontent with 2009 has been caused by the way the current rules have nullified the impact of the All Black No 7.

"I think he [McCaw] finds the rules frustrating," says Henry. "When it turns into a game of tennis he's the net. He can't play when he's the net. He can only play when he's the ball.

"The game has changed to the extent he doesn't get on the ball as much as he used to. That's a frustration. I think he has enjoyed this tour because it's been less a game of tennis."

The fact McCaw hasn't been able to influence as many games as he used to this year has seen a decrease in the accusations thrown at him of being a cheat. It is a favourite hobby horse of many of the All Blacks' opponents to dismiss the work of McCaw as largely illegal.

That phenomenon is rife in the Northern Hemisphere where respect for McCaw is sometimes in short supply. It is to McCaw's eternal credit that he has never let it bother him. He's called a cheat and he shrugs and smiles.

He knows that his work will always create debate - a No7 can't do his job if he's not operating on the very edge of the rules. He takes the criticism as a compliment almost and never reacts. This is McCaw as captain - calm, assured and in control.

It's the way he handles himself under that level of pressure and scrutiny that inspires those around him. It's not just the young players who are in awe of their captain.

The most capped member of the current squad, Mils Muliaina, is a massive fan.

"You can see what he does. He's got this natural love for the game and he just wants to be there; he wants to be in charge. It's something I would like to talk to him about a bit more.

"He takes a lot of things on his shoulders both on and off the field and then he plays as well as he does. He's the best player in the world along with DC [Dan Carter] and to be able to do that mentally, year in year out, is right up there."

The best teams in history all share a common link of having an iconic captain. The All Blacks have that now in McCaw.

There is no doubt he is already one of the best captains in All Black history. There is almost no doubt now that he is also the best openside in All Black history. He will take a few weeks off during this year's Super 14 and then begin the long ascent towards the 2011 World Cup.

His place in history will be beyond doubt if he is the first All Black captain since David Kirk to lift the Webb Ellis trophy.