And so begins the reign of R. McCaw (c)

Richie McCaw

Unless the selectors have hoodwinked the nation, Richie McCaw will be unveiled as the next All Black captain on Saturday.

Since Tana Umaga retired from his two-year stint at the top, all the signs and noises from the All Black camp have pointed to the 25-year-old McCaw as his successor.

The venue and timing for the official announcement - at McCaw's Christchurch club the morning after the Crusaders play the Brumbies - reinforce the belief about the loose forward's promotion.

"We think it is a very big deal being captain of the All Blacks and thought it should be kept separate from the squad announcement two weeks later," coach Graham Henry said yesterday.

"It is a great honour and deserves its own space."

While that bulletin should reveal the All Black selectors' plans for McCaw in the opening June 10 test against Ireland, there is uncertainty about the involvement of another of his test colleagues. Blues prop Tony Woodcock damaged a calf muscle in the latest Super 14 loss to the Cats - an injury which usually required four to six weeks recovery.

Last year hooker Anton Oliver missed a huge chunk of the season after tearing his calf and Greg Somerville withdrew from the Grand Slam tour because of a similar problem.

"An ultrasound showed he has some muscle damage which is relatively minor and hopefully he will rehab on the lower end of the scale," Blues doctor Peter Coleman said of Woodcock yesterday.

That latest injury produced a blunt observation from Graham Henry about the amount of rugby some players were being asked to undergo in the Super 14.

Woodcock joins a list which already has Conrad Smith, James Ryan, Angus Macdonald, Sione Lauaki and Nick Evans as major casualties with Troy Flavell also in doubt.

While Henry refused to reveal his new captain before Saturday, he was critical of how some sides had not alternated their players enough.

"One of the things we have learned from the Super 14 is that it is a lot different from the Super 12 with the longer schedule, greater travel, more training, more games, and I think there have been signs of guys tiring," he said.

"When I coached the Super 12 and you got to the end of the round-robin you were pleased it was over.

"We have three months of consistent rugby played at a pretty hectic pace with a lot of violent collisions out there and it is getting more demanding.

"I think we have learned from the Super 14 that it is a very long continuous competition and there is a real need for player rotation. Otherwise players are just going to fall over and I think there have been some signs of that lately."

It was not difficult for Super 14 coaches to use all their squad if they embraced a wider philosophy about players' welfare.

"Quite frankly, I think sides would play better if they had that system," Henry added.

If players were asked to step out each week, their standards would drop. That was evident in this inaugural Super 14 season.

Meanwhile, Henry said he and his selectors, Wayne Smith, Steve Hansen and Sir Brian Lochore, had settled on the bulk of the 39 players they will announce after the Super 14 final for initial All Black duty.

The selectors will be in Christchurch on Friday, announce their captain the next morning and then travel to Auckland for some debriefs with the training and medical staff before watching the Blues-Chiefs derby at Eden Park.