Soaking up the atmosphere

Richie McCaw and All Blacks fans in London. Photo / Brett Phibbs

It's been great to witness the fanfare which greeted the All Blacks' arrival in the UK for the World Cup. They've clearly got a lot of support over there, which will be handy to have in the backs of their minds when defending the World Cup.

When I arrived with the 1999 team, we stayed at a grand, old hotel called Pennyhill Park in Surrey, which was about half an hour's drive from Twickenham and a fair bit further to the centre of town.

It was an awesome spot. It had everything, including a nine-hole golf course and a training pitch and I think England have based themselves there in the past to get away from the hype. But it was isolated and sometimes you need to get out to soak up the atmosphere. I hope this year's crop get plenty of opportunity to do that.

It was hard to know 16 years ago you were at a World Cup until you got close to the ground. The UK is such a big place and there's always plenty of other sport and entertainment going on.

I compare that to the World Cup in New Zealand in 2011. Wherever you went, like the foyer of a hotel or walking down the road to get a coffee, you knew something big was on. I always like that interaction with people as a player and now a fan.

Adding to the isolation in '99 was our decision to head to France after pool play. The idea was to get away from it all before the quarter-final against Scotland, but sometimes it's just cool to stick around and get a feel for what's going on.

I'd compare it to the last World Cup when Wales and Ireland played their quarter-final in Wellington. I remember it was unreal in the city pre-game before the walk to the ground. Obviously it was after I'd finished as a player, so I'm probably not comparing apples with apples, but any player could have looked out his hotel window to see the flags and jerseys and felt the buzz.

The Auckland waterfront felt that way before the semifinal and final, and that was by about midday. It didn't feel that way in 1999.

There's always pressure and expectation from All Blacks fans, but that comes with the legacy - even in 1999, after we'd lost five in a row the previous season. There was plenty of respect from other fans, too, even after we lost.

The hardest part of the tournament was having salt rubbed into the wound after the playoff for third and fourth.

We had to go to the final between Australia and France. After a tough week, I remember doing the old 'off to the toilet' trick at halftime, and scarpering to the hotel.