{"id":569008,"date":"2025-11-14T03:41:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-14T03:41:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/569008\/"},"modified":"2025-11-14T03:41:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-14T03:41:01","slug":"an-all-black-should-be-ready-to-perform-not-developing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/569008\/","title":{"rendered":"An All Black should be ready to perform, not developing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Richie McCaw is sitting in his home office in Christchurch, with one of his World Rugby awards twinkling away on the bookshelves behind him, assessing the state of today\u2019s All Blacks and their challengers.<\/p>\n

The prizes the great flanker gathered over 148 Test matches \u2014 suffering only 16 losses \u2014 fade further into the background with every passing year. He is 44 now, and it is ten years since the All Blacks won a World Cup. <\/p>\n

So what does McCaw make of the sense that the present-day New Zealand team are eminently beatable but on a development path?<\/p>\n

\u201cOne thing I never like talking about is that you\u2019re developing as an All Black,\u201d he tells The Ruck podcast, from The Times. \u201cYou should be ready to go and perform.\u201d <\/p>\n

This is not to say that the All Blacks are not, or should not be, learning on the job. McCaw\u2019s team, which had a 92 per cent win rate at the end of his career between 2011 and 2015, took a while to nail it too. He is heartened that they have started their \u201cgrand slam\u201d tour of the home unions with wins against Ireland<\/a> and Scotland<\/a>, but is hopeful there is more to come against England and Wales. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been some really good patches of rugby and some bits where you\u2019d probably be a bit disappointed. You want to be a bit more consistent throughout a whole game, but you\u2019ve still got the chance to win all four games,\u201d McCaw says.<\/p>\n

\"Richie<\/p>\n

McCaw featured in 148 Tests for New Zealand \u2014 and lost 16<\/p>\n

PHIL WALTER\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have setbacks, like they\u2019ve had a couple this year, or periods in a game maybe like last week against Scotland just after half-time you let a team back in, it\u2019s learning from those bits so that they don\u2019t keep happening. That\u2019s the key. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s easy to look in hindsight at things that are all rosy, especially in the times we had, but there were periods we went through where it didn\u2019t go all our own way. Sometimes that\u2019s when you learn the most.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwickenham\u2019s always a challenging place to play, but it\u2019s one of those Test matches that you get pretty excited for. I think it\u2019s a good test to see where the All Blacks are at. Probably the same for the English. You put those things together, it makes for an exciting match.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCaw loves watching the \u201cold dog\u201d Ardie Savea change the momentum of Tests with his game-breaking carries or jackals from the back row and he rates the No8 Peter Lakai. <\/p>\n

Scott Robertson, the head coach, is a Crusader from Christchurch, as McCaw was. McCaw thinks Robertson is still feeling his way in the Test game having dominated Super Rugby with seven consecutive titles. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s probably realised that international rugby is different to playing Super Rugby,\u201d McCaw says with a flick of a knowing grin. \u201cThe intensity of having to get it done every week is different to going well in a competition where you can afford to trip up once or twice and rest some players or rotate. <\/p>\n

\"New<\/p>\n

McCaw believes that New Zealand will benefit from the rugby brain that Robertson, above, possesses<\/p>\n

STU FORSTER\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no doubting his knowledge and understanding. He\u2019s got his finger right on who\u2019s around coming through. Certainly with the rugby brain he\u2019s got, they\u2019ll be learning and getting better for it. He\u2019s big on uniting a team to believe in something.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the All Blacks this week, it is about uniting around not losing to a hungry England. McCaw used to love all-comers having a crack at him, falling over themselves to clinch the one victory they all wanted the most. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love that challenge of not wanting to give up a scalp too easily, making everyone work for it,\u201d he says. \u201cEvery one you don\u2019t win is one closer to the one you do. You look at Ireland, they hadn\u2019t beaten the All Blacks ever, they got that one in 2016, and won five out of the last ten. It just shows that belief on the other side [if you beat the All Blacks].\u201d<\/p>\n

It is why the rare losses, like in 2012, when Stuart Lancaster\u2019s England trounced New Zealand 38-21 at Twickenham \u2014 their last home win against the All Blacks \u2014 hurt so much for McCaw.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got knocked over,\u201d McCaw says of that day Manu Tuilagi ran riot. \u201cYou store those days away to make sure that doesn\u2019t happen again. If you don\u2019t lose too often, you remember the times you do. I\u2019ll tell you what, it grinds away with you. I\u2019d be worried if it didn\u2019t. The moment you say it\u2019s OK, you\u2019re in trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"England's<\/p>\n

Tuilagi starred for England in 2012 when they handed New Zealand \u2014 and McCaw \u2014 a rare defeat<\/p>\n

BEN STANSALL\/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

In this sense, McCaw has a huge admiration for the Springboks because he sees a lot of his All Blacks side in them \u2014 the fervent desire to stay on top, to dominate, like they did in Paris against France<\/a> last Saturday night, and when trouncing New Zealand 43-10<\/a> in the Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a lot of respect for this Boks team,\u201d McCaw says. \u201cI wondered if maybe some of the players have been around a long time. I don\u2019t know how they hold up their standards but getting across the line last week . . . that\u2019s a good French team. <\/p>\n

\"Grant<\/p>\n

Grant Williams scores a try during South Africa\u2019s win against France in Paris, a result that impressed McCaw<\/p>\n

DAVID ROGERS\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

\u201cRassie [Erasmus] has got them pretty schooled up to be ruthless about repeating game after game. It\u2019s been pretty impressive to watch. You can have teams compete for 60 or 70 minutes but when you get one opportunity that presents itself do you take it or don\u2019t you? We learnt to create those moments and nail them. That to me is the difference between a team that\u2019s consistently successful to a team that has potential to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Taking a wider viewpoint, McCaw is a little concerned about how much teams are kicking. Robertson has suggested that Saturday\u2019s match will all be about the aerial bombardment England bring, but his opposite number, Steve Borthwick, countered by pointing out that the All Blacks\u2019 kicking numbers spike when they face his team. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot more reward for not having the ball,\u201d McCaw says. \u201cAt the moment we put the ball in the air for 50-50s, and teams are probably erring on the conservative side. There was a patch in 2009 where we, certainly against South Africa, had trouble because it felt like that we didn\u2019t look after the ball in the air very well and that compounded into the rest of the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to hate playing when it was like that, but you\u2019ve got to be pragmatic as well. There was a period where the All Blacks kicked more than any other team in the world, but we scored more tries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat shows it was the type of kicks that we set up. We did some stats; too much kicking isn\u2019t great, but not enough kicking isn\u2019t great either, as you end up overplaying into the hands of the defensive team. So it\u2019s getting that balance right.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCaw only lost once at Twickenham in a 14-year career, but he rated England for the challenges they posed.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was always a physical battle,\u201d he says. \u201cYou had to really be on your game in the forward pack. When England get a bit of a roll on, and the crowd starts singing, it becomes pretty intense on the field. It\u2019s always satisfying when you get the performance to get a win \u2014 you walk off knowing you\u2019ve had to work pretty hard for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, where is his money on Saturday?<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m probably a bit biased but I think the All Blacks have shown that when they put it together they can score points,\u201d McCaw says. \u201cBut anything can happen. I think that\u2019s why we keep watching. All Blacks by seven.\u201d<\/p>\n

England v New Zealand<\/p>\n

Twickenham, Saturday, 3.10pm
TV<\/b> TNT Sports 1<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richie McCaw is sitting in his home office in Christchurch, with one of his World Rugby awards twinkling…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569009,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-569008","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115545984102109438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569008"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569008\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569009"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}