In his 99 tests prior to last night, McCaw had been on the winning side 87 times. Since his debut, the All Blacks have played 123 times and lost 19. The win ratio with McCaw in the side is 87.5 per cent; without him it is 84 per cent.
His ability as a player and his aura as a leader earn him enormous respect from his peers. But the real value of his leadership is harder to determine. Where McCaw is possibly more powerful than most, maybe all, of his predecessors is his ability to influence the senior management.
He's helped by the inclusive culture where the senior players are empowered to make decisions; it's not like the old days when gaining an audience with the coach wasn't always easy.
McCaw and his senior leaders have a massive influence on the team and if there was any doubt about the captain's authority, the command he has over his troops, the recent Tri Nations trip to South Africa ended that.
It's not that the team came off the rails off the field in Port Elizabeth but it became apparent that standards of behaviour dropped.
Without McCaw and his senior team there, the ship was not run as tightly and professionally as it usually is. It was in South Africa that the coaches had to talk to Zac Guildford about his drinking and tell him to get a handle on it.
The fact he didn't and was forced into a public confession last week where he revealed he has taken steps to fix his problems has left his test career in the balance.
There is empathy and sympathy for his issues but in taking so long to face up to them Guildford has lost much of the respect of the senior team. He needs to earn forgiveness now and prove he has the discipline and will power to moderate his alcohol use.
It will be McCaw, as much as the coaches, who Guildford has to win over. The same was true of Jimmy Cowan in 2008 when he had to finally confront his alcohol problems. It was winning back the respect of his peers and particularly McCaw that saved Cowan's test career. If he hadn't convinced McCaw he was willing to fight to conquer his drinking and fulfil his potential, he wouldn't have survived.
Hika Elliot is another who felt the full power of the captain and the senior players. Called up as a replacement on the 2008 Grand Slam tour, the Chiefs hooker lost the respect of his team-mates for his late night behaviour -a point that was made to the coaches.
When Elliot couldn't get himself in order, he was left out of the 2009 squad - the All Blacks persevering with the more limited and less accurate Aled de Malmanche. Elliot, by most people's reckoning, was a better player but couldn't force his way back into the test picture until the 2010 Grand Slam tour.
His selection for that tour owed as much to his improved use of alcohol as it did his form for the Chiefs and Hawke's Bay. He toured the UK on trial as much with the skipper and the senior players as he was with the selectors.
McCaw is determined to have discipline and harmony in his team. He is adamant the All Blacks won't succeed if they are not as professional off the field as they are on it. He wants the best and is prepared to have his say in getting it. He recently explained the culture within the team as he saw it.
"I think there is always a respect thing," he said. "The guys come in and if they prove themselves they earn the respect. That is part of being a rugby player, whether you are in the Crusaders or the All Blacks.
"But when you are together for so long you have got to enjoy it. You have got to do the work and have fun. Doing the hard work is where you get the fun. I think fun is sitting in the changing room after a test win.
That's the enjoyment you get out of it. No matter what the job is, even in the All Blacks, there are bits you don't like. You deal with that and enjoy the rest. Hopefully we have an environment that people enjoy.
Showing guys what is expected but not letting them fail is important. You say, 'This is what I expect and I am going to help you.' Some guys will meet it some guys might not.
If you do that [then] you hope they will think, 'this is the level I need to be at to be an All Black for a long time'. That is what you want them to go away and think about. You can't be satisfied just being here.
"You want them to think it was awesome."
