The ‘pretty crazy’ All Blacks verdict on Richie McCaw joining them for Springboks rematch
Legendary All Black Richie McCaw at the 2015 Rugby World Cup
The All Blacks have fired up preparations for Saturday’s Rugby Championship rematch with the Springboks by having the legendary Richie McCaw in with Scott Robertson’s squad.
New Zealand extended their unbeaten run at Eden Park to 51 matches with last Saturday’s engrossing 24-17 Round Three win over South Africa, and they are now in the thick of preparations for the Round Four encounter in Wellington.
Hugely respected coach Wayne Smith turned up last week in the All Blacks camp to assist them for an Auckland match he watched from Robertson’s coaches’ box.
Now, McCaw – the World Cup-winning captain in 2011 and 2015 – has been at the team’s New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport training base in Upper Hutt.
“It’s the first time I’ve met him”
“He’s a legend,” said assistant coach Tamati Ellison, confirming on Tuesday that McCaw was in with the All Blacks.
Asked what exactly the legend is doing, the assistant added: “You’d have to ask the players, he wasn’t at training specifically. But his legacy lives on and they were real intense around that breakdown, so it shows the boys care about that legacy.”
McCaw’s presence certainly struck a chord with Quinn Tupaea, the midfielder who came off the bench in Auckland to score his team’s crucial third try.
Whereas the protection of their Eden Park run and Ardie Savea’s 100th cap were obvious emotional incentives for the All Blacks to do well last weekend, there isn’t a similar dynamic heading into the Wellington rematch, so McCaw’s visit has proved timely.
“We need to go to another level,” said Tupaea. “There was a lot of emotion last week, given the occasion with Ardie and Eden Park, so we have got Richie in camp this week.
“We are drawing a bit of inspiration from him and the history there. It’s pretty crazy seeing him in the environment; it’s the first time I’ve met him. He just gives us confidence, gives us some inspiration.”
Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus speculated that McCaw could even have been in with Robertson’s squad in the lead-up to last weekend’s Auckland clash.
“Richie McCaw might have also been with him [Wayne Smith] last week,” he suggested. “The way they were to breakdown, they were awesome at the breakdown.”
While New Zealand will wait until Thursday to name their side for Wellington, South Africa brought forward their team naming to Monday, with Erasmus unveiling seven changes to his starting XV, five in the backline.
The alterations caught the eye of Tupaea, the 60th-minute sub at Eden Park who scored his try seven minutes later.
“They have got a few ballers in their back line, a few guys that play with confidence and like to move the ball around,” he said, assessing a South African backline that now has Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at fly-half in place of the more conservative Handre Pollard.
“Just given the backline they named, they might look to play a little bit more. Rassie is showing he is pretty prepared to make changes and back his squad.”
