Richie McCaw hanging up his boots

Players who lined up against Lomu recalled how his fearsome style transformed rugby union, while younger generations revealed how his exploits inspired them to take up the game.

“And I knew with the World Cup, there’s no in-betweens coming home; I was either going to be extremely happy or extremely disappointed”.

Englishman Danny Cipriani said Lomu was one of the reasons he first picked up a rugby ball, while for current All Black Sonny Bill Williams the inspiration was deeply personal.

However, McCaw, whose Test career began with a man-of-the-match performance against Ireland as a 20-year-old in 2001, also said he would leave with no regrets.

“He has been superb and what he has achieved on the field, as an individual and as captain of the All Blacks, is nothing short of unbelievable”.

“He was a phenomenon who was ahead of his peers”, Straueli said yesterday.

“But I actually think his profile was bigger in England because of that try he scored when he ran over the top of Tony Underwood and Mike Catt”.

McCaw won the World Rugby player of the year trophy three times.

All Blacks Head Coach Steve Hansen echoed the sentiment.

McCaw had never fully confirmed 2015 would serve as his final professional season despite the overwhelming belief it would, and the most-capped player of all time explained why he had chosen to keep the door ajar – albeit slightly.

Following his retirement McCaw, an honorary squadron leader of the Royal New Zealand Air Force, plans to pursue a career as a helicopter pilot.

Mark Smith, chief executive of Naomi House and Jacksplace said: “News of Jonah’s passing has shocked and saddened everyone here at Naomi House and Jacksplace”.

Speaking at a conference, McCaw paid his respects to fellow All Black Jonah Lomu, who died on Wednesday. “We play the game to make you proud and I hope I have managed to do that over the years”.

The pace and power displayed by the 1.95m tall and 119kg Lomu changed the wing position forever, with the traditional lightweight flyer gradually all but disappearing from the test game. “Aviation is something I’m passionate about, I’m going to carry on flying and work towards getting my commercial pilot licence”, he said. Even bitter rivals Australia called him “one of the greats”, and congratulated him on “an unbelievable career”. “Richie will probably go down as the best who has ever played his game and his achievements will last forever”.

His career had a low point when New Zealand was upset by France in the quarterfinals of the 2007 World Cup, when his tactical inflexibility was widely criticized.

He said the sport has given him so much over the last 15 years and he wants to give something back.