All Blacks and Crusaders captain Richie McCaw will sit out the majority of the 2013 Super Rugby season, it has been confirmed.
New Zealand's 2011 World Cup-winning skipper will take a six-month sabbatical aimed at guaranteeing his fitness for the 2015 World Cup in England.
The move means the 31-year-old flank will lead the All Blacks on this year's November tour to Europe, but will miss the three-Test series against France next June and will not play for the Crusaders until July.
McCaw's contract with the NZRU has a clause for a sabbatical similar to that of fly-half Dan Carter's stint at Perpignan in 2008, but the veteran leader is now set to use the period to rest rather than chase Euros overseas.
Crusaders boss Hamish Riach said the Super Rugby side are happy to let McCaw take a break.
Kieran Read will lead Crusaders next year, as he did during McCaw's injury-enforced absence this year.
"It is definitely going to happen," Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder told the Sunday Star-Times.
"Richie is going to take a sabbatical. He will probably be available after June. He won't be available for the Tests or Super Rugby, so he's going to get a good break. We've worked this through with all parties and I fully support it.
"He had it written into his contract and he's elected to take it. He's going to see the season out with the All Blacks, then have a break. It will freshen him up and he'll come back and be good for the next couple of years."
"He's probably going to head overseas and have a bit of a holiday, have a break and get away from the game," Blackadder added.
"Super Rugby is now an eight-month programme. It's a lot bigger than it used to be. The succession plan is [Read]. He did a fantastic job this year."
Comments
APV1 says...
@ sandal - being born and raised in Surrey (don't you know?), you're absolutely right - I don't have an accent. I sometimes struggle to juggle the plums in my mouth (and I don't mean the ones bewteen legs, you filthy buggers!), but it's an inherent skill which I usually manage.
Posted 10:25 27th September 2012
sandal says...
Algonquin, people with an accent different to you ("but I don't have an accent") are just intrinsically funny, aren't they. Now don't tell me what country you're from. Let me guess ...
Posted 01:07 27th September 2012
Rosbif says...
thks sandal. trust us, you are well out of the whole hcup argument. if only france were in the southern hemisphere hmmmm.....
Posted 20:16 26th September 2012
Rosbif says...
APV, ah mon ami, i've noticed you've finally gone nuclear on the other pages!! i wld probably have cracked too by now, but for an industrious fellow frenchman toulousain who is blazing a trail for the french point of view. his style is more provocative, but i'm finding myself mostly agreeing with him :-)
Posted 20:15 26th September 2012
APV1 says...
@ Rosbif - European towel well and truely chucked in now, my friend.
Posted 15:30 26th September 2012
APV1 says...
@ sandal - in NZ, I suspect they're known as a Fsshhh tank.
;-)
Posted 11:19 26th September 2012
sandal says...
@APV1
Algonquin, I'm not sure if that's not more than three jokes. What kind of a tank was it?
Btw, your angle on the old joke to ruckingkiwi was rather nice.
So thank you for that.
And thank you @Rosbif.
Posted 02:07 26th September 2012
sandal says...
@MacTavish
Well, given the way McCaw is running around now, you're right -- for now. And you're right, it is all speculation. But it can at least be considered, informed speculation.
Three years is a long way down the track when you're in your 30s.
I don't know if you ever saw Buck Shelford play. In the space of 12 months he went from monster to Joe Average (with a great rugby brain and technique, admittedly). Finlay Calder, the captain of Scotland, said that standing next to him in the lineout he felt the man radiating a fearsome, animal energy. A year later, Shelford was just another guy in the lineout.
Bottom line is, if McCaw is playing openside for the ABs in 39 months' time, then we're in trouble with our opensides. If anyone could prove me wrong on this, however, it would be McCaw.
Posted 02:00 26th September 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
sandal, if it leads to keeping our top players in the country then what else matters?
We cannot compete on money so we need to be creative.
APV1, which one? All the boys were having a go..
Posted 23:22 25th September 2012
Rosbif says...
hehehe no worries. i was a little worried the joke wouldn't come across in writing. but then again, you're no slouch when it comes to humour.
(p.s. i've been v impressed with you not completely losing it on some of those HCup threads - as Oscar Wilde said "i can resist anything but temptation'. some of those celtic provocations have been, well, how should i put it..... tempting!)
Posted 18:20 25th September 2012
APV1 says...
@ Rosbif - I am now a 3-joke chap. Thank you.
Posted 17:07 25th September 2012
Rosbif says...
given all the flak flying re europe (in rugby terms and with the peripheral debt crisis), i was impressed when my 6 year old came home with this one:
[Knock Knock]
Q: Who's there?
A: Europe
Q: Europe who?
A: No, you're a pooh
sums it up nicely i thought :-)
Posted 14:49 25th September 2012
APV1 says...
@ ruckingkiwi - she dropped me for your boyfriend...
;-)
@ sandal - "one joke"..?! How rude!
Two fish in a tank. One turned to the other and said, "How do you drive this thing?"
Posted 12:01 25th September 2012
MacTavish says...
@sandal - There is no loyalty about it. Hey you could be right, he may retire by then. However he currently does not plan to, where is it written that you cannot be a professional athlete and perform at top level when you are 34? Why is that too old? Everyone bagged the Poms in 03 - too old. Gee who saw Brad Thorn trucking on to 36 at that level. I bet everyone thought when he came back to union at 31 he would be gone in a year or two. Fact of the matter is McCaw got injured last year and everyone called his number. Now look at him, back to his career best. Show me the evidence he is done and I will believe you. Given the form he is in right now, and a 6 month break to freshen up next year, boy its gonna be a rather speedy and tragic decline if he hits the skids as you predict over the following two years from there. Sorry but I dont see him going off the boil that quick. He will be 34, not 54. Speculation, speculation, speculation... Nothing more. Until he looks like he is out of his depth then its all opinion. Do you have a crystal ball - I take it you can shed light on his last game then? And where does comparing eras come into it. Thats like saying Michael Jones is crap. Era has nothing to do with it. These guys are good enough to be there regardless of when they played. Something me and you cant lay claim to. Fact of the matter is each of them were good enough to be selected in a team good enough to reach a RWC Final - in their 30s. No arguement! My opinion is he will be there. Your opinion is he will be gone. Thats our opinions... But there is no set rule to define what is right other than nothing is impossible.
Posted 11:41 25th September 2012
kenttaff says...
@ carpelone
that is the funniest comment ive seen thanks for that it made a nice break from the ritchie haters/worshippers comments
Posted 09:04 25th September 2012
sandal says...
@ArmchairGeneral
The "hurt" that you belittle was a broken leg, as I recall.
Or are you just becoming a one-joke merchant like APV1?
@ruckingkiwi
True. But where might such flexibility lead?
Posted 07:51 25th September 2012
sandal says...
MacTavish says...
"""Wont make 2015 wont he? Lets see. 1999 RWC Final David Wilson was the number 7 for the winning Aussie team - age 32 in the Final. 2003 RWC Final Neil Back was the number 7 for the winning English team - age 34 in the Final. 2007 RWC Final Martin Corry was the number 6 for the losing English team - 34 in the Final. Plenty of evidence you can play on the flank well into your early 30s. Fact. Ritchie McCaw is 31, he will be 34 in 2015.""
MacTavish, I admire your loyalty to Richie. But All Black coaches are usually more hard-headed than loyal when it comes to team selection. Alex Wyllie was an exception, but his loyalty to certain players weakened the team.
Yes, McCaw will be 34 at the time of the next world cup -- but in fact only a few weeks short of 35. There is a big difference between nearly-35 and the 32 that Wilson was in 1999. At that age, at that level, every year is like two. Do you seriously think the Wilson of 1999 could foot it with the best opensides of today? It is doubtful that the Neil Back of 2003 would foot it with today's opensides. But consider: though Back was able to function in that England team, it had an entirely different character to today's All Blacks, and an entirely different game plan. The All Blacks would have to change their game plan to accommodate an ageing McCaw at openside. Do you want to see New Zealand playing the kind of rugby England used to play?
As for the case of Martin Corry, please, don't try to persuade anyone that the example of this very average player has any relevance to the exceptional qualities expected of an All Black openside.
MacTavish, I am a big admirer of McCaw -- the man is a walking miracle -- but I don't expect him to be around in 2015. In the No 6 or 8 jersey, perhaps as a squad mentor, but not as a match starter.
Posted 01:45 25th September 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
Irrespective of what happens to Richie from here, it's good to see the NZRU are willing to show the flexibility when negotiating contracts required to keep our top players in NZ
Posted 23:23 24th September 2012
ruckingkiwi says...
APV, did your missus give you the "sabbatical" line to cover-up that you were dropped, could explain how you find the time to be on here commenting all the time.
Posted 23:19 24th September 2012
The_Dange says...
I book flights to Christchurch and as soon as McCaw hears he retires. Knows I'm taking his spot.
Posted 20:40 24th September 2012