"He's a man of few words...but he's a great man to have a chat with," said McCaw, at a press conference.
"You talk about pressured environments...he's been in environments that have a damn sight more pressure than what we end up with."
The citation for the Victoria Cross describes the attack on Apiata's squad by 20 enemy fighters in Afghanistan in 2004.
A grenade explosion blew Apiata off the bonnet of a vehicle where he was sleeping and two other soldiers were wounded by shrapnel, one with life threatening injuries.
"In total disregard of his own safety, Lance Corporal Apiata stood up and lifted his comrade bodily. He then carried him across the seventy metres of broken, rocky and fire swept ground, fully exposed in the glare of battle to heavy enemy fire and into the face of returning fire from the main Troop position. That neither he nor his colleague were hit is scarcely possible. Having delivered his wounded companion to relative shelter with the remainder of the patrol, Lance Corporal Apiata re-armed himself and rejoined the fight in counter-attack."
McCaw said Apiata was a "special New Zealander".
"He's a good man to have around and the boys enjoy hearing his stories and calming words."
The former SAS soldier spent time in the All Blacks camp earlier this year, before the Eden Park win over the Wallabies.
In the Weight of the Nation documentary, which chronicled the 2011 Rugby World Cup, Sir Graham Henry revealed how Apiata presented the playing jerseys to the team ahead of the semi-final against the Wallabies in 2011.
The then All Black coach said the players' "eyes were on stalks", particularly the Franks brothers.
The All Blacks went on to beat their great rivals 20-6 at Eden Park in one of the team's most clinical knock-out game performances.
Fans will be hoping for more of the same Apiata inspiration tomorrow.
- By Jared Savage in London
