All Blacks Skipper Richie McCaw Retires From Rugby Following World Cup Win

Alongside the two World Cup trophies, McCaw has also won three Rugby Championships, 10 Bledisloe Cup’s and four Tri Nations as his country’s skipper.

McCaw joins fellow test centurions Keven Mealamu (132) and Tony Woodcock (118) in hanging up their boots, while Daniel Carter (112), Ma’a Nonu (103) and Conrad Smith (94) have also ended their New Zealand careers by joining clubs in France. “I’ve enjoyed my time as a rugby player but I’m excited about what’s coming forward, what’s coming in the future”.

Hansen says what made McCaw such a great leader – what set him out from the rest – was the way he came back from that loss in Cardiff that night, in 2007, when the All Blacks were kicked out of the World Cup in the quarter finals.

Nearly one third of New Zealand’s victories in the past 112 years have featured McCaw. He said he would now be concentrating on his business, personal sponsorship and charity interests.

At the press conference to announce McCaw’s retirement, those in attendance held a minute’s silence for the 40-year-old who died of cardiac arrest on Wednesday 18 November.

During a 15-year career, McCaw earned an unprecedented 148 Test caps and New Zealand Rugby chief Steve Tew said he was the best player he had ever signed.

“I’m lying on the floor and [New Zealand second row] Robin Brooke came over to me, hit me across the cheek and said “mate, that’s just the start of it”. But no, true to himself as always, McCaw resisted sentiment and called time on his astonishing career without fanfare. “That last game as a rugby player was pretty satisfying”. “Aviation is something I’m passionate about, I’m going to carry on flying and work towards getting my commercial pilot licence”.

McCaw wore the All Blacks number seven shirt with distinction, so much so that 007 might have been a more appropriate recognition of his repeated match-winning deeds, and few players in rugby history had a greater ability to be the dominant figure in a game.

Instead, the world’s most successful rugby player intends to become a commercial helicopter pilot.

Many of us would have preferred that delay for if any player deserved a glorious send-off undiminished by this week’s sadness and grieving in the global rugby community, it was McCaw. The last thing I ever wanted to do was limp to the end, both in form and as your body holding together.

“He burst onto the scene and became very highly revered in New Zealand”.

That said, I don’t think Richie’s ever been comfortable in front of the media.