What makes Richie McCaw a champion?

Richie McCaw thanks the crowd after winning The Rugby Championship, Bledisloe Cup match. Photo / Getty Images

He was all anyone seemed to talk about over the weekend, and with very good reason.

He played a world record 142nd test at Eden Park on Saturday night, and it was his last test on New Zealand soil too. The accolades and the praise came in from every corner of the earth this weekend - he has the admiration of many, it seems.

It's not, however, Richie's many successes that stand out to me. It's what he would probably perceive as one of his greatest failings - losing to France in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals in Cardiff back in 2007. It was our year. The All Blacks were favourites. The Cup was ours for the taking. And then suddenly, it was over. The unthinkable happened. The All Blacks were out of the Cup.

A few weeks earlier in Paris, I had interviewed Richie. It was on a rooftop at the official launch of the World Cup. The sun was out, the Eiffel Tower was behind us, Richie was in good spirits. He was confident. He was shouldering the favourites tag. He was looking forward to some great rugby, he said.

And then, a few weeks later, on that cold miserable night in Cardiff, I sat in the stadium with my head in my hands as the final whistle rang out. The All Blacks had lost to the French - we were out of the Rugby World Cup.

I was TV3's Europe correspondent back then so I was responsible for our news coverage. I raced down the stadium stairs, grabbed one of our cameraman and began to interview fans as they spilled out into Cardiff. Some were crying. Many were angry. Some were throwing punches. It was awful.

And then, eventually, I made my way to the media conference and waited for Graham Henry and Richie McCaw to front the media. Richie walked in and I remember looking at his face that night and wondering whether he would come back from this. He looked broken.

He could barely speak. His head was down and stayed down. Sometimes he would shake his head. Almost in bewilderment. Sometimes he would shrug his shoulders. Like most of us, he was struggling to make sense of what had just happened.

I think he'd played just 23 tests for the All blacks at that stage. And we later found out that he'd almost thrown the towel in after that loss in Cardiff. He really questioned whether he was the right man for the job.

And then fast-forward to the 23rd of October, 2011. I was lucky enough to be in the stands at Eden park to see the All Blacks beat the French in the final of the World Cup. And when Richie lifted that world cup trophy above his head I thought to myself "there you go, you've done it. You've got your world cup".

And in that moment, I also thought of that great saying... "it's how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success."

And that's what makes someone a champion. Yes, Richie McCaw is one of our finest sportsmen, and he's just a brilliant human being as well. But he is also one of an elite few who know how to learn from failure, and turn it into success.

Thanks for the memories, Richie. You are one out of the box.