McCaw rejects 'greatest' All Blacks captain idea

BY MARC HINTON IN SYDNEY

The numbers may tell a different story, but Richie McCaw says he doesn't consider himself the "greatest" All Blacks captain of all time.

But tomorrow night against the Wallabies at ANZ Stadium, McCaw will surpass Sean Fitzpatrick's record when he runs out for his 52nd test as All Blacks skipper. During that reign he has lost just six times – three of them coming in the tumultuous 2009 campaign.

At the "Captain's Run" at the match venue, the 29-year-old Cantabrian looked sheepish when one reporter asked him what it would take for him to consider himself "the greatest".

"I don't know I'll ever do that mate. I think that's for other people to determine, isn't it," he said.

For those who know McCaw, that sort of thing would never cross his mind. He's too humble to play that game, too decent a bloke to put himself on any pedestals at this stage of his career.

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans wasn't troubled, however about rating McCaw as the greatest modern skipper in All Blacks history.

Deans, who coached McCaw during his time at the Crusaders in Super 14 rugby, says no-one comes close to the 29-year-old - not even Fitzpatrick.

Fitzpatrick, New Zealand's all-time most capped player with 92 Test appearances, led the All Blacks in 51 tests from 1992-1997.

"He's clearly grown into a very effective leader," Deans told reporters.

"You look at his performance, his performance stats, which obviously aren't attributable solely to Richie but he's a big part of that, he's without peer."

As far as he's concerned records and accolades are things the media and public fixate on. For him it's all about winning, which is something he's been doing a lot of ever since he pulled on that black jersey.

"From my point view, however long I play for the All Blacks, I want this team to succeed," he added.

"That's my No1 thing. Personal things come second to that. However long I've got left, if the All Blacks can win as many times as possible… I'd like to never lose a game. That's what I would consider a success.

"You always want to aim to be better, and where I am now compared to 12 months ago I consider myself a whole lot better. But I've still got a lot of room for improvement, and as long as I keep that attitude hopefully I can do a good job for the team."

McCaw said he was honoured to have surpassed a record held by the great hooker Fitzpatrick.

"He's a bit of a legend in the game back home. To even be mentioned in the same breath as him is pretty crazy really," he said.

McCaw also made one other point about his captaincy record ahead of what will be his 89th test.

"When you're captain of a team you only do any good if you've got a good team round you and a good bunch of guys. That's where I've been lucky over the years."

The record-breaking skipper did admit that it would be hugely satisfying to lead the first ever six-game sweep of the Tri-Nations which will become a reality if the Wallabies are vanquished.

"Now we've got a chance of doing that it would be disappointing to let that opportunity slip. It's not going to be easy, but we've got the team that can do it. If we go out and compose ourselves and play our game there's no reason why we can't."

McCaw gave his rookie trio of Aaron Cruden, Israel Dagg and Victor Vito the thumbs-up ahead of the biggest test of their young careers and said it had been a case of less is best for them this week.

"The big thing is we haven't tried to over-help them this week. They've been around for a while now and they've just slotted in and known how to do things. We can help them just by doing our jobs around them, and when we need to just keep talking to them."

McCaw also said he had plenty of respect for newly re-signed Wallaby No 10 Quade Cooper who will be playing his first test against the All Blacks. He also suggested the Queenslander could expect the traditional reception all five-eighths get from a New Zealand pack.

"He's played pretty well this year. He's not afraid to have a crack when he sees opportunities, and we've got to make sure we shut that down."

McCaw is also expecting the Wallabies to be a more confident outfit than the All Blacks faced in the first two Bledisloe tests of the year.

"They've probably got a bit of confidence after South Africa, even though they didn't win both games. They certainly played a fair bit of rugby, scored a lot of points, and our job is to make sure they don't have that freedom to play with the ball.

"If you don't get that opportunity it's pretty hard to play. It will be a different match tomorrow night compared to Africa."

McCaw is also hoping for a more successful night than he had on his first appearance at the Sydney Olympic venue.

That was back in 1999 when he, Mils Muliaina and Tony Woodcock were part of the New Zealand under-19s who played a Bledisloe curtain-raiser and got "tapped up" by the Aussies.

As the New Zealand skipper celebrates his milestone moment, and the All Blacks push for a 10th straight win over the Wallabies, it's fair to say the classy No 7 has come a long way since that unfavourable evening.

Australia's worst Bledisloe Cup rugby losing streaks against the All Blacks:

9 - 1936-1947

11-6 at Wellington, 1936

38-13 at Dunedin, 1936

24-9 at Sydney, 1938

20-14 at Brisbane, 1938

14-6 at Sydney, 1938

31-8 at Dunedin, 1946

14-10 at Auckland, 1946

13-5 at Brisbane, 1947

27-14 at Brisbane, 1947

9 - 2008-10

39-10 at Auckland, 2008

28-24 at Brisbane, 2008

19-14 at Hong Kong, 2008

22-16 at Auckland, 2009

19-18 at Sydney, 2009

33-6 at Wellington, 2009

32-19 at Tokyo, 2009

49-28 at Melbourne, 2010

20-10 at Christchurch, 2010

-with AAP and NZPA

- © Fairfax NZ News