All Blacks: McCaw's the best, says Pinetree

All Black captain will equal legend’s record of 133 matches in tomorrow’s test against Argentina

Colin Meads can't think of a better player to equal his record of 133 matches for the All Blacks than Richie McCaw.

"It's a marvellous achievement because they play more tests now and probably the rugby is harder, I don't know," Meads said yesterday.

McCaw will reach the figure tomorrow when he takes the field at La Plata for the Rugby Championship test against Argentina, and yet, while the number is the same, just about everything else is different.

Meads was right to say it's difficult to compare the two eras - the professional one that McCaw plays in and the amateur one inhabited by Meads between 1957 and 1971. Meads played 55 tests in that time, plus 78 other matches for the All Blacks. McCaw will tomorrow play his 132nd test after debuting against Ireland in 2001. His only other match was against the Barbarians at Twickenham in 2009.

And the differences go deeper than that, as the now 78-year-old knight of the realm still known as Pinetree so eloquently suggested.

In a recent interview with TV3, he said of the support network the All Blacks had in his day: "We always left with two managers and one was the coach and that was it. We had no more. They often used to pick up a physio at whatever town we were in ... I only ever used one once and we lost the next game, it was the night before the Newport game in Wales and we lost so I never ever used one again."

He added yesterday: "You can't compare it. We would assemble on a Wednesday afternoon, play on Saturday and be home on Sunday and back working again no matter what the work was. Today they stay together, they're in camps all the time, they plan everything meticulously ... and they get paid plenty for it."

And yet, there are similarities too. Meads was notoriously tough and rarely got injured. When he did, he often played on, such as the time in 1970 when he kept playing against Eastern Transvaal despite the hindrance of a broken arm. He is said to have muttered afterwards: "At least we won the bloody game."

McCaw played the latter stages of the 2011 World Cup on a broken foot. His toughness was also evident this year when he played against England with a broken rib. "I paid for it afterwards. I was pretty sore," McCaw said with some understatement in June.

Both men are from the land - Meads, who now lives in Te Kuiti, was a farmer, while McCaw was born in Oamaru and was brought up on a farm in nearby Kurow.

Both have become standouts in the international rugby community for their deeds as much as their longevity. Meads was recently inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame, and McCaw, awarded the IRB Player of the Year award a record three times, turned down a knighthood after the World Cup, but is a safe bet to be awarded the honour when he finally hangs up his boots.

Not that that will be any time soon, according to Meads.

He told TV3: "I don't know if I'll contact him this week or next week when he breaks my record, I'll have to make my mind up about that, but I'd just say 'congratulations'.

"It couldn't happen to a nicer person. What a great player he is and how consistent he's been over his life. He's always been a great player and he's always played well.

"I think it will be for a while yet because he's not giving up and we've got a World Cup coming up. I heard somewhere that he'd like to get to 150 tests. He's such a great stalwart of rugby in New Zealand."

Takes one to know one.