Rugby World Cup final: Fitting farewell for the greatest ABs

This was the send-off Richie McCaw and Dan Carter deserved. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It was maybe always going to end like this - the two greatest All Blacks of this or any other age taking control of the World Cup final.

As the dust settles on what was an epic contest, the influence of Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter will become more obvious. The old guard, as they have been so many times together, were in their element against the Wallabies.

There were All Black heroes all over the park: Brodie Retallick stormed into everything, Jerome Kaino was a dominant force, Kieran Read never stopped running, Ma'a Nonu and Sonny Bill Williams bashed big holes and Nehe Milner-Skudder skipped into space.

Everyone was a hero really - they all did their part. It's just no one did more than either McCaw or Carter. On the biggest stage, when the All Blacks needed them to be at their world class best, those two responded with huge performances.

All the pre-match hype was about the Wallaby backrow. Just how hard would it be to stop Michael Hooper, David Pocock and Scott Fardy? Those three were portrayed as some kind of rugby messiahs - as if they had reinvented the breakdown wheel.

Yet it was the All Blacks loose trio that dominated - and it was McCaw who led the way. Again. He and not Pocock was the most influential forward at the breakdown. His ability to get his body over the ball was astonishing. His timing was impeccable and he pulled off three miraculous turnovers when he had no business even getting his hands remotely close to the ball.

He was so much more than that just the arch poacher, though. His ball running was top notch and there were several times when he hammered into contact, kept his feet and took those extra few metres that made such a difference.

He even delivered some deft handling in the build up to Milner-Skudder's try - twice exchanging with Ben Smith to create the space. And of course there was the influence had just by being who he is.

Carter's contribution was easier to contextualise - which is both the joy and risk of being a first-five. His goal-kicking, with the exception, of one conversion, was perfect.

His kicking out of hand was long and bold and made a major difference. Twice he set up lineouts deep in the Wallaby 22 when other kickers wouldn't have been able to get the ball so far down the pitch.

But the bit that really mattered was his work in the last 15 minutes. What a way to sign off as an All Black.

The Wallabies, having been out on their first feet for the first 55 minutes, were surging. They had all the momentum and having clawed their way back from 21-3 down to 21-17, they were in it.

They were a serious chance of pulling off the impossible. But this was Carter's moment. His snap drop goal was almost too good to believe.

Dropping goals hasn't been his thing to date, but he landed two at this World Cup that turned the semifinal and final respectively.

His one in the final was sensationally good - having to be struck in a flash, with barely any space or backswing. But he got enough on it to send it 40 metres. Equally impressive was his penalty from just inside the Wallabies half - that took nerves of steel to land and yet as he lined it up, there was a feeling he was never going to miss.

"I think he [McCaw] is the greatest All Black we've had and Dan's a close second," said All Black coach Steve Hansen.

"The only thing that separates them is one's a flanker. You shouldn't play 148 test matches as a flanker, that's unheard of. You put your body on the line every time you play there. There was a Lot of talk going into this game about the loose forward trio and I think without wanting to be disrespectful to the other guys who played really well, our trio won that battle and Ricko is the leader of our trio."