http://allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=displayNews&newsarticle=11483
NZPA - (31/10/2009)
Phase two of the rugby year starts tomorrow for Richie McCaw's All Blacks, who says his side are on edge and desperate to maintain their high standards from Wellington.
The fourth Bledisloe test, a predicted sellout in the 48,000-capacity National Stadium, provides the segue from a season including four test defeats, to the European tour where Wales, Italy, England and their June conquerors France loom.
McCaw, whose side hold a clear advantage with six straight wins against coach Robbie Deans' Wallabies, rejected any thoughts of his side struggling for motivation at the scene of Peter Snell's double Olympic golds in 1964.
"Both teams are in similar situations. We've got a pretty tough six weeks ahead and it'll be tough if we don't have a good start so we're pretty keen to do that," McCaw said."We've got a few new guys who are excited to be here and there's a whole different feel to the group. We're pretty keen to put the first part of the year behind us and build on that last performance. There's definitely a bit of edge there."
The 33-6 win over the Wallabies in Wellington six weeks ago was clearly their best performance of the year and coach Graham Henry rewarded them with a largely unchanged side here, while he reshuffled the coaching roles with Wayne Smith and Steve Hansen.
Of the three changes, previously injured frontliners Conrad Smith and Sitiveni Sivivatu return to a first-choice backline while 60-test No 8 Rodney So'oialo won a reprieve ahead of Kieran Read whose lack of recent matchplay counted against him.
Henry stressed pre-tour that selections would be performance-based had provided a further motivation tomorrow for the likes of one-test lock Tom Donnelly.
"That last test we had a couple of changes and that created a bit of edge," McCaw said."The coach has said that the team will be picked each week on how guys go. There's a good sort of edge and there's competition there."
McCaw said a 4-0 sweep of the Wallabies would be a "significant" achievement.
It would also stretch their winning run to seven, their equal second-best against the Wallabies, matching the run of 1995-97 and trailing only the nine straight wins between 1936-49.
Deans' side suffered a blow last night with vice-captain Berrick Barnes ruled out after he rolled his ankle at training.
It saw a late reshuffle, with Adam Ashley-Cooper moving from fullback to second five-eighth and teenager James O'Connor returning to fullback after being dropped in the wake of some recent shaky efforts.
"It'd be nice to put him under some pressure," said McCaw, who rated Barnes a significant loss which would take away a kicking option and perhaps strengthen the view that the Wallabies would go for all-out attack.
They haven't crossed the All Blacks' line for 236 minutes of playing time and Deans' coaching is under the microscope for the first time in Australia.
McCaw was also surprised at the absence of 105-test veteran George Smith, who was benched for the loose forward trio of Wycliff Palu, David Pocock and new captain Rocky Elsom, who will be tasked with improving their ordinary work at the breakdown in Wellington.
"It surprised me a little bit... it's probably a good thing for us," McCaw said.
The National Stadium surface was rated hard and fast which should promote an open, running contest, although the in-goal areas were largely astroturf, which both sides were taking a keen interest in.
On the prospect of promoting rugby in Japan by hurling the ball around and making it a spectacle, McCaw wouldn't exactly concur.
"From a team's point of view that's not something we're thinking about. It'd be nice to come off having won and having put together a performance we're happy with. In that case it'd be a pretty good game to watch."
Link sent by Nancy.
Friday, October 30, 2009
All Blacks expect Wallabies to throw caution to the wind
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/all-blacks-expect-wallabies-to-throw-caution-to-the-wind/2009/10/29/1256405472982.html
Greg Growden October 30, 2009
The All Blacks are concerned the Wallabies will go on an all-out attacking blitz in tomorrow night's Test - but as far as Australian fans are concerned, it is a case of ''not before time''.
All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith enlivened the Japanese rugby community by indicating that the Test will be fast and free-flowing because the Bledisloe Cup has already been decided.
''Once the silverware has been won, it probably frees the game up a bit, and I expect this to be quite an open game, and I think it will have its challenges from a defensive coaching point of view,'' Smith said.
However, the reality is that for too long, as far as the Wallabies are concerned, trans-Tasman encounters have turned into ''no-try zone'' because they have struggled to penetrate the New Zealand defence, leading to years of grim battles.
The Wallabies boast only one try in this year's Bledisloe Cup series, and this is hardly a new phenomenon. Since the 2000 Sydney extravaganza when 10 tries were part of one of the most celebrated Bledisloe Cup matches, the Wallabies have scored just 38 tries in 24 trans-Tasman encounters, an average of 1.5 tries per Test.
During that period, the Wallabies have failed to get over the line in five Bledisloe Cup matches.
It also appears the Wallabies are finding it hard to score against most oppositions. Since Robbie Deans took over as Wallabies coach last year, his team has scored 52 tries in 23 Tests, an average of 2.3 per game.
This is the lowest average of the past five Australian coaches. Greg Smith's 19 Tests as Wallabies coach in 1996-97 yielded 61 tries at an average of 3.2, and Rod Macqueen's 43 Tests from 1997 to 2001 had 146 tries at an average of 3.4. During Eddie Jones's four-year reign, which spanned 57 Tests, the Wallabies scored 201 tries at an average of 3.5. He was followed by John Connolly, whose 25 Tests produced 93 tries (3.7).
These statistics are admittedly rubbery, especially for Connolly's era, as in 2006-07 the Wallabies had several enormous wins over minor nations, including two internationals against Fiji when they scored nine and seven tries, six against Canada, as well as a World Cup match against Japan, when the Wallabies finished with 13 tries. That bumps up Connolly's average.
Deans hasn't had the luxury of playing many minor countries, with virtually every Test involving the world's leading rugby nations - New Zealand, South Africa, France, England, Wales and Ireland.
Also Deans showed during last year's Bledisloe Cup series his team can actually get over the line, by scoring nine tries in the four-match series, but this year there has been a considerable slump.
However, earlier this week Deans pointed out that the Wallabies had scored eight Tri Nations tries this year, to the All Blacks' nine and Springboks' 10.
At least the Japanese are expecting something exciting. After early reports that only 20,000 tickets had been sold, officials are now forecasting a crowd of up to 40,000.
Greg Growden October 30, 2009
The All Blacks are concerned the Wallabies will go on an all-out attacking blitz in tomorrow night's Test - but as far as Australian fans are concerned, it is a case of ''not before time''.
All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith enlivened the Japanese rugby community by indicating that the Test will be fast and free-flowing because the Bledisloe Cup has already been decided.
''Once the silverware has been won, it probably frees the game up a bit, and I expect this to be quite an open game, and I think it will have its challenges from a defensive coaching point of view,'' Smith said.
However, the reality is that for too long, as far as the Wallabies are concerned, trans-Tasman encounters have turned into ''no-try zone'' because they have struggled to penetrate the New Zealand defence, leading to years of grim battles.
The Wallabies boast only one try in this year's Bledisloe Cup series, and this is hardly a new phenomenon. Since the 2000 Sydney extravaganza when 10 tries were part of one of the most celebrated Bledisloe Cup matches, the Wallabies have scored just 38 tries in 24 trans-Tasman encounters, an average of 1.5 tries per Test.
During that period, the Wallabies have failed to get over the line in five Bledisloe Cup matches.
It also appears the Wallabies are finding it hard to score against most oppositions. Since Robbie Deans took over as Wallabies coach last year, his team has scored 52 tries in 23 Tests, an average of 2.3 per game.
This is the lowest average of the past five Australian coaches. Greg Smith's 19 Tests as Wallabies coach in 1996-97 yielded 61 tries at an average of 3.2, and Rod Macqueen's 43 Tests from 1997 to 2001 had 146 tries at an average of 3.4. During Eddie Jones's four-year reign, which spanned 57 Tests, the Wallabies scored 201 tries at an average of 3.5. He was followed by John Connolly, whose 25 Tests produced 93 tries (3.7).
These statistics are admittedly rubbery, especially for Connolly's era, as in 2006-07 the Wallabies had several enormous wins over minor nations, including two internationals against Fiji when they scored nine and seven tries, six against Canada, as well as a World Cup match against Japan, when the Wallabies finished with 13 tries. That bumps up Connolly's average.
Deans hasn't had the luxury of playing many minor countries, with virtually every Test involving the world's leading rugby nations - New Zealand, South Africa, France, England, Wales and Ireland.
Also Deans showed during last year's Bledisloe Cup series his team can actually get over the line, by scoring nine tries in the four-match series, but this year there has been a considerable slump.
However, earlier this week Deans pointed out that the Wallabies had scored eight Tri Nations tries this year, to the All Blacks' nine and Springboks' 10.
At least the Japanese are expecting something exciting. After early reports that only 20,000 tickets had been sold, officials are now forecasting a crowd of up to 40,000.
Konichiwa!
Richie meets NZ PM -> Today's captain runNZ fans getting autographs... including our RG FSS!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
A forward of olden-day style
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10605804&pnum=0
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009
By Chris Rattue
Whacky ideas are never in short supply when it comes to the All Blacks and the 2009 season has been an outstanding success in that regard.
The steady trickle of gadgets emerging from deep within the bunker leads you to wonder if someone down there hasn't watched a wee bit too many James Bond films over the years.
The boys are safely in Tokyo by now, presumably after travelling by bog-standard aircraft, although it would be no surprise if they'd headed there in personal, radio-controlled submarines, tracked by satellite of course, complete with hologram of Victor Matfield jumping up and down in the cabin while subliminal personal growth messages infiltrated the fully patented super air via a selection of Jordan Luck songs.
What an interesting year, especially at training. Dan Carter got to run around with a camera stuck on his head, they've done so much frame-by-frame work on Matfield jumping and catching a rugby ball that suggestions persist the All Black coaches have made discoveries about film that even Francis Ford Coppola doesn't know about, and a new piece of lineout scaffolding was unveiled with a fanfare that made you half-expect Graham Henry would launch the apparatus by bashing a bottle of bubbly on it.
Add to that the coaching grow-the-group job swap, and the mind has had ample room to boggle.
You heard the rumour here first, but there is a radical plan being developed at central control in which the All Blacks will prepare for the next World Cup by playing rugby during the 2011 season. What fresh madness is this?
Thankfully, something traditional is still leading the All Blacks. Unlike the lineout platform, it's all flesh and blood and not held together by rods and bolts - yet.
This entity is Richie McCaw, and no doubt we'll find out again on Saturday night that the whole shebang relies way too heavily on this remarkable forward of olden-day style and with an enormous heart.
McCaw came from simpler times, in hindsight, and is a reminder of simpler times still.
At about the time he was getting his hands around a rugby ball for the first time, the All Blacks' World Cup squad - the one which won the tournament - were being billeted on New Zealand farms.
You could have tried to put a camera on Grant Fox's head, and might even have succeeded, but the difference back then is that everyone would have had a good laugh about it. (Thinking about this, Foxy - for all his brilliant strengths - didn't travel around the field enough to warrant filming the sights).
As we all get excited about staying up to near midnight on Saturday for a transtasman test from the land of the rising sun, it is easy to analyse the potential outcome by rating R. McCaw as the major factor separating these two teams.
With him, the All Blacks are slight favourites. Without him, this game is a toss up.
He is, it can be humbly suggested, the No1 All Black alongside Colin Meads. If not, McCaw is only a touch behind the magnificent Pinetree.
And yet McCaw has got to where he has by methods tried and true, without the need for a camera on his head, and through appearing to relish playing the game as often as possible.
There is no discernable difference in his attitude, whether he is playing for Canterbury or in a World Cup. Every game is another one to be played with maximum skill and commitment, no matter how the body hurts.
Pertinent to suggest here that his fabulous career has been helped in the rest and rotation era by being one of the increasingly few test players who knows exactly where he stands in terms of faith from above and consistent selection.
McCaw's ball-hunting skills are quietly being questioned in some quarters, and if he ever drops off in this department, then it will be said that the human body - even his - can only hurl itself into the mincer so often.
It's not just that McCaw is so good, although that is a very big part of his appeal.
McCaw epitomises sporting values and attitudes among our heroes that those of us of a certain age relate to. He charges around as if his life depends on it, cops the bad days on the chin, doesn't bother with excuses, and is so retro that his hand signal of choice is a mere hand-shake.
McCaw could have made a fortune overseas by now, but he's stayed true to a couple of causes in this part of the world. (Most of us would have been sorely tested by the offers he has surely received.)
He is the good ship Richie McCaw, still sailing true in crazy waters.
* * *
Player power, Black Caps style, is winning general praise, and with justifiable reason. There doesn't appear to be any opposition to the players' contention that their departed coach, Andy Moles, was a decent chap who just wasn't up to the task. This has been a quiet coup, conducted with dignity. If there is a question to ask, it has to be how the heck was Moles appointed in the first place, even given that no one else wanted the job?
This column contended that John Bracewell's departure late last year was a chance to let the players stand up for themselves, and go to battle with the captain in sole charge.
In hindsight, it may have been a premature call considering the sudden pressure it would have put on Daniel Vettori, so the appointment of Moles in what has turned out to be a sort of caretaker role may actually have served a purpose.
The bottom line to the Moles situation is this: the genius cricketers of the world, and many other good ones, were not made by national coaches. These players had their own ways, their own motivation. They also found their own mentors. (Furthermore, on a similar note, Shane Warne was completely dismissive about the Australian coach of his time). Cricket is a team sport of distinctive individual performances, and it's not logical to believe that one coach can positively influence them all.
Having an ineffective national coach should be no impediment to a player reaching his potential.
Put it this way - Moles hasn't harmed Daniel Vettori's career. Far from it. The Black Caps may have removed what they see as a redundant part of their camp, but if they think it will turn their careers around, they've got another think coming. Once they sort their own performances out, then a good team coach may prove to be an asset. Otherwise, he will remain a red herring, as in the case of Moles.
The phrase that great players make a coach great is made for cricket. This is not to necessarily criticise the Black Caps for this uprising, but the perception is that they are continually looking for external excuses.
* * *
A plug here for the Skysport magazine for its interesting New Zealand rugby player survey. I won't steal their hard work and thunder except to say that among the most interesting revelations was the high respect for the Canterbury centre Casey Laulala, who is about to leave these shores. Laulala fell out of All Black favour, and dropped off the radar, as Richard Kahui became top of the pops. But that's not the way the players see it. It would be interesting to know how many players responded to the survey and from which teams.
* * *
The weekend's league action from Europe is still rattling around the brain. Staggering - Bobbie Goulding that is. If you'd posed the question which Englishman is the least likely to end up coaching the French league team, then the answer might have been Eddie the Eagle. But Bobbie Goulding would have come a very close second.
Believe it or not, France approached Goulding, out of work after an unsuccessful low-level coaching stint, offering him a $150,000-a-year job. The Goulding many of us remember was bonkers. He famously smacked around a couple of patrons in an Auckland establishment during the 1990 British tour. This is the story quietly told to explain his actions. The teenage Goulding was very homesick, with a staggering phone bill to prove it. Goulding found out his girl had been seen around his home town with one of his mates. Someone had to pay, so why not a couple of innocent bystanders.
I was helping cover the tour for a British paper and duly filed a story which extensively quoted Bobbie's dad about what a good lad his boy was. But this did not persuade wee Bobbie that the Kiwi media was doing him any favours. For some reason, he was allowed to continue on tour, presumably because it was deemed way too dangerous to put this ticking time bomb on a plane and Goulding's punishment included having to wear the team uniform at all times.
As the night wore on in a Christchurch night club, a small and menacing figure in said uniform approached me with a wild look in the eye. His advance did not seem to be in the name of having a natter. The Lions back Jonathan Davies intervened, to save Bobbie further problems rather through any love of the local media, as Davies pointed out in his lovely Welsh lilt. Crisis avoided.
As the files show, Goulding's career was littered with such incidents, including trashing a club coach's car and scrapping with a teammate. He was dead set crazy back then. He must have grown up, so good on him.
But still, Bobbie Goulding coaching France, or anybody for that matter? Amazing.
Thanx to Nancy for the link :)
Wednesday Oct 28, 2009
By Chris Rattue
Whacky ideas are never in short supply when it comes to the All Blacks and the 2009 season has been an outstanding success in that regard.
The steady trickle of gadgets emerging from deep within the bunker leads you to wonder if someone down there hasn't watched a wee bit too many James Bond films over the years.
The boys are safely in Tokyo by now, presumably after travelling by bog-standard aircraft, although it would be no surprise if they'd headed there in personal, radio-controlled submarines, tracked by satellite of course, complete with hologram of Victor Matfield jumping up and down in the cabin while subliminal personal growth messages infiltrated the fully patented super air via a selection of Jordan Luck songs.
What an interesting year, especially at training. Dan Carter got to run around with a camera stuck on his head, they've done so much frame-by-frame work on Matfield jumping and catching a rugby ball that suggestions persist the All Black coaches have made discoveries about film that even Francis Ford Coppola doesn't know about, and a new piece of lineout scaffolding was unveiled with a fanfare that made you half-expect Graham Henry would launch the apparatus by bashing a bottle of bubbly on it.
Add to that the coaching grow-the-group job swap, and the mind has had ample room to boggle.
You heard the rumour here first, but there is a radical plan being developed at central control in which the All Blacks will prepare for the next World Cup by playing rugby during the 2011 season. What fresh madness is this?
Thankfully, something traditional is still leading the All Blacks. Unlike the lineout platform, it's all flesh and blood and not held together by rods and bolts - yet.
This entity is Richie McCaw, and no doubt we'll find out again on Saturday night that the whole shebang relies way too heavily on this remarkable forward of olden-day style and with an enormous heart.
McCaw came from simpler times, in hindsight, and is a reminder of simpler times still.
At about the time he was getting his hands around a rugby ball for the first time, the All Blacks' World Cup squad - the one which won the tournament - were being billeted on New Zealand farms.
You could have tried to put a camera on Grant Fox's head, and might even have succeeded, but the difference back then is that everyone would have had a good laugh about it. (Thinking about this, Foxy - for all his brilliant strengths - didn't travel around the field enough to warrant filming the sights).
As we all get excited about staying up to near midnight on Saturday for a transtasman test from the land of the rising sun, it is easy to analyse the potential outcome by rating R. McCaw as the major factor separating these two teams.
With him, the All Blacks are slight favourites. Without him, this game is a toss up.
He is, it can be humbly suggested, the No1 All Black alongside Colin Meads. If not, McCaw is only a touch behind the magnificent Pinetree.
And yet McCaw has got to where he has by methods tried and true, without the need for a camera on his head, and through appearing to relish playing the game as often as possible.
There is no discernable difference in his attitude, whether he is playing for Canterbury or in a World Cup. Every game is another one to be played with maximum skill and commitment, no matter how the body hurts.
Pertinent to suggest here that his fabulous career has been helped in the rest and rotation era by being one of the increasingly few test players who knows exactly where he stands in terms of faith from above and consistent selection.
McCaw's ball-hunting skills are quietly being questioned in some quarters, and if he ever drops off in this department, then it will be said that the human body - even his - can only hurl itself into the mincer so often.
It's not just that McCaw is so good, although that is a very big part of his appeal.
McCaw epitomises sporting values and attitudes among our heroes that those of us of a certain age relate to. He charges around as if his life depends on it, cops the bad days on the chin, doesn't bother with excuses, and is so retro that his hand signal of choice is a mere hand-shake.
McCaw could have made a fortune overseas by now, but he's stayed true to a couple of causes in this part of the world. (Most of us would have been sorely tested by the offers he has surely received.)
He is the good ship Richie McCaw, still sailing true in crazy waters.
* * *
Player power, Black Caps style, is winning general praise, and with justifiable reason. There doesn't appear to be any opposition to the players' contention that their departed coach, Andy Moles, was a decent chap who just wasn't up to the task. This has been a quiet coup, conducted with dignity. If there is a question to ask, it has to be how the heck was Moles appointed in the first place, even given that no one else wanted the job?
This column contended that John Bracewell's departure late last year was a chance to let the players stand up for themselves, and go to battle with the captain in sole charge.
In hindsight, it may have been a premature call considering the sudden pressure it would have put on Daniel Vettori, so the appointment of Moles in what has turned out to be a sort of caretaker role may actually have served a purpose.
The bottom line to the Moles situation is this: the genius cricketers of the world, and many other good ones, were not made by national coaches. These players had their own ways, their own motivation. They also found their own mentors. (Furthermore, on a similar note, Shane Warne was completely dismissive about the Australian coach of his time). Cricket is a team sport of distinctive individual performances, and it's not logical to believe that one coach can positively influence them all.
Having an ineffective national coach should be no impediment to a player reaching his potential.
Put it this way - Moles hasn't harmed Daniel Vettori's career. Far from it. The Black Caps may have removed what they see as a redundant part of their camp, but if they think it will turn their careers around, they've got another think coming. Once they sort their own performances out, then a good team coach may prove to be an asset. Otherwise, he will remain a red herring, as in the case of Moles.
The phrase that great players make a coach great is made for cricket. This is not to necessarily criticise the Black Caps for this uprising, but the perception is that they are continually looking for external excuses.
* * *
A plug here for the Skysport magazine for its interesting New Zealand rugby player survey. I won't steal their hard work and thunder except to say that among the most interesting revelations was the high respect for the Canterbury centre Casey Laulala, who is about to leave these shores. Laulala fell out of All Black favour, and dropped off the radar, as Richard Kahui became top of the pops. But that's not the way the players see it. It would be interesting to know how many players responded to the survey and from which teams.
* * *
The weekend's league action from Europe is still rattling around the brain. Staggering - Bobbie Goulding that is. If you'd posed the question which Englishman is the least likely to end up coaching the French league team, then the answer might have been Eddie the Eagle. But Bobbie Goulding would have come a very close second.
Believe it or not, France approached Goulding, out of work after an unsuccessful low-level coaching stint, offering him a $150,000-a-year job. The Goulding many of us remember was bonkers. He famously smacked around a couple of patrons in an Auckland establishment during the 1990 British tour. This is the story quietly told to explain his actions. The teenage Goulding was very homesick, with a staggering phone bill to prove it. Goulding found out his girl had been seen around his home town with one of his mates. Someone had to pay, so why not a couple of innocent bystanders.
I was helping cover the tour for a British paper and duly filed a story which extensively quoted Bobbie's dad about what a good lad his boy was. But this did not persuade wee Bobbie that the Kiwi media was doing him any favours. For some reason, he was allowed to continue on tour, presumably because it was deemed way too dangerous to put this ticking time bomb on a plane and Goulding's punishment included having to wear the team uniform at all times.
As the night wore on in a Christchurch night club, a small and menacing figure in said uniform approached me with a wild look in the eye. His advance did not seem to be in the name of having a natter. The Lions back Jonathan Davies intervened, to save Bobbie further problems rather through any love of the local media, as Davies pointed out in his lovely Welsh lilt. Crisis avoided.
As the files show, Goulding's career was littered with such incidents, including trashing a club coach's car and scrapping with a teammate. He was dead set crazy back then. He must have grown up, so good on him.
But still, Bobbie Goulding coaching France, or anybody for that matter? Amazing.
Thanx to Nancy for the link :)
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Richie McCaw's other passion - gliding
Pictures : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/image.cfm?c_id=80&gal_objectid=10605675&gallery_id=107987
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10605675&pnum=0
Sunday Oct 25, 2009
By Scott Kara
You'd think the tow rope would be a bit thicker. The thin white line snaking across the ground between the glider and the plane looks more like a flimsy bit of string than a robust cable. "Yeah, sometimes they snap, but there's plenty of runway to play with," says glider pilot Richie McCaw in his casual drawl.
That's the All Black captain wedged into the seat in front of me, making light of the tow rope that's about to haul us 1000-or-so metres into the air above the beautiful mountains, valleys, and plains of the McKenzie Country in North Otago.
It's too late to freak out though. The glider — a $250,000 space age-looking thing — trundles along the grass runway at Omarama Airfield behind the tow plane, its long, slender wings flexing slightly with the bumps and then, lift off. We follow the plane, the tow rope straining and then relaxing, as we get steadily higher. Almost immediately after McCaw detaches the tow rope with a loud snap and clunk, he asks if I want to do a 360 degree loop.
I'd seen him do two during a practice run earlier, and it made me squirm just watching it from the ground. I'm terrified of heights and not a great fan of flying (although I've never let it get in the way of me going anywhere), so now that we're more than a kilometre up in the air I have no qualms about politely chickening out in front of the All Blacks' captain. "I don't know Richie. I might pass, eh? This is a big move for me just being up here," I say, meekly.
He's okay with it, and recounts a story about flying here with his dad when he was a young fella. "When I was about 8 or 9, my dad and I got reasonably high, about 8000 feet [2400m], and Dad said, 'Right, do you want to do a loop?' And we just did about a dozen, all the way down ready to land.
"I love that sort of stuff, it's a bit like a rollercoaster. As you pull through you get a bit of G [force], then you see the ground come around. It's a bit like doing wheelies, I guess," he laughs.
Flying or, more specifically, gliding, is McCaw's other sporting passion besides rugby. He stars in the new Discovery Channel series, Sportstar Insider, hosted by Australian rugby league great-turned-TV host Andrew "ET" Ettingshausen, which looks at the science and know-how behind extreme sports like acrobatic flying, big wave surfing, and free diving.
A few years ago McCaw played a part in inspiring the idea for the series, after convincing Mandy Pattinson, the head of the Discovery network in Australia and New Zealand, to do a show about gliding. "I chewed her ear off about it," he says. Earlier this year they filmed McCaw at Omarama for the show, which screens on November 5.
This tiny little junction town, on State Highway 8 about two hours' drive north of Queenstown, is a world famous gliding spot. Its unique mix of landscape, wind and beautifully hot and sunny weather during the summer months combine to create ideal gliding conditions. Put simply, the climate around Omarama creates "thermals", gliding speak for the vertical up-drafts that give the gliders lift. When you go through them you feel a short, shuddering bump.
Another key feature of this area is how the wind hurtles over the Southern Alps from the west, creating a "standing wave" on the lee side — that's the sheltered side — of the alps. When conditions are right, lenticular clouds form and the glider can run along the front of these clouds at a fast rate of knots and at high altitudes.
"The perception people have is that you just float around and it's relaxing. And it is relaxing, but figuring out how to stay up there is the hard part," says McCaw. "You're using the atmosphere, the wind, and whatever the sun is doing, and you have to learn how to use those elements to stay up in the air — and then be able to go somewhere. That's the real art and sport of gliding, I reckon."
For something that doesn't have a motor, a glider can cover extreme distances — and soar at heights of up to 6000m. Two of McCaw's favourite runs are to head 100km north to the Tasman Glacier and Mount Cook ("Soaring the face of Mt Cook. That's pretty awesome"), or to go 100km west to Mt Aspiring and take a run down the Mt Brewster glacier.
"The real intrigue I've got for it is every time you go out it's different. With power flying you turn your engine on and go somewhere. Whereas with this, you are on a mission to get somewhere, but you may not get there, and you may not get home. But that's what it's all about."
At the airfield today, it's cold, grey, and threatening rain. But McCaw and Gavin Wills, his gliding instructor, mentor and owner of GlideOmarama, don't look too worried. It might not be scenic soaring weather but "we'll get up." And a few hours later, true to form, a big blue hole appears in the sky, making a perfect gliding arena — for novices who are scared of heights like me, at least. We're off to find some thermals.
Flying is in the McCaw family's blood. His grandfather was a fighter pilot in World War II, flying Typhoons, Tempests and Hurricanes; his dad, Don, and his two uncles fly gliders and McCaw has loved flying since "before I can remember."
He's had a licence to fly fixed-wing aircraft since the early 2000s — he flew to Omarama from Christchurch in his little plane to meet us here today — and did his first solo glider flight in 2005.
The old family farm in the Hakataramea Valley, where Richie grew up — about 50km from Omarama — had an airstrip, from which the North Otago Gliding Club operated. "I used to jump in the back of the tow plane with Dad and loved it. I guess that's where I got the bug. I just loved it and I knew it was something I was always going to do. Dad and I talk more about flying than we do rugby," says McCaw.
There are similarities between the two sports, he says. "Gliding is about being aware. Aware of where things are, the conditions, and it's about being able to process all that, I suppose that's what you do in rugby."
"The McCaws," says Wills, who has known the family for years, "are more famous in gliding than that other thing they do." It's obvious Wills is biased towards gliding, but he reckons McCaw has the potential to be a better glider pilot than rugby player. "He has this situational awareness. He sees clouds, assesses the situation, asks questions if he needs to, then goes."
He describes his famous protege as thoughtful, determined, and competitive. But "humble" is the description he offers up last: "His ego is tucked back there somewhere, which is rare for a rugby player."
He's right. McCaw is a laid-back country boy. Before we take off he chats keenly about the glider, explaining all the little instruments in the cockpit, when you might need oxygen (thankfully we won't be going that high). And he gleefully points out the single linchpin that fixes the wings to the glider's body. Apparently you can dismantle them and put them in a trailer if need be.
The only time he's a little reticent is when talk turns to rugby. The All Blacks' patchy performances this year have meant an especially challenging season for the captain, even rivalling the failed 2007 World Cup bid. "There is a bit of pressure on, and first of all you have to get your own game right, and then help the team. I love challenges in life and this year has certainly been a challenge. And, you know, we're playing against some pretty good teams.
"There are going to be times when it's not that easy, but you've got to keep belief in what you're doing, and if you start doubting yourself and what you're doing then you're never going to get it right."
You can hardly blame McCaw for being less enthused by rugby when he's in Omarama. This airfield, which is deserted today but gets overrun with local and overseas enthusiasts during the summer months, is his escape.
"The people here don't care too much about rugby," he says.
"On the airfield a lot of them watch the rugby but they don't get carried away with it. Coming here, you fit in with what they are doing and you're not the centre of attention. I learned off these guys. So you get back here and forget about things for a bit and have some fun. That's what it's all about. If you have a weekend here you get home refreshed. If you don't have these sorts of outlets you'd go nuts."
And Omarama holds some fond memories for him. He used to spend school holidays here at the campground and these days he and his folks own a house here. "This valley is where I grew up and now it's my holiday joint where I come to have fun."
Back up high in the sky, we haven't had much luck finding quality thermal action. But still, McCaw tries to coax some action out of the atmosphere by spiralling around and around. As he does this I look out across my shoulder, down the long flexing wing, and it's as if I'm horizontal to the ground. I'd heard how gliding was all about silent flight — and up here, as you drift, glide and soar, it's serene with only a faint whirring sound working its way into the cramped cockpit.
Surprisingly, today's soaring experience is far less harrowing than the erratic turbulence I'd experienced during the flight from Auckland to Queenstown the day before. But, sadly, the conditions today are a "dead dog", reckons McCaw, so we head for home. As we swoop in to land, the rusty barbed wire fence at the end of the runway looks a little closer than one might wish, but he lands it like a magic carpet in the middle of the grassy field.
"I suppose that was a boring flight for you?" I ask him. "Nah. I just love being up there. It's the closest thing to having wings on your back."
* Richie McCaw appears on Sportstar Insider, on the Discovery Channel at 8.30pm on November 5.
GUIDE TO GLIDING
Gliding is about more than just getting towed up into the air and drifting back down. It's about seeking out thermals, getting lift, soaring, charging into lenticular clouds, and then riding them as far as you can. It also helps if you've got a land form like the Southern Alps to help create a unique soaring environment.
The basics: "Your engine is the atmosphere," says Gavin Wills, Richie McCaw's gliding instructor. "We boil it down to being simply a function of the sun, the wind and the terrain. That's the guts of it. The glider pilot has to learn how the atmospheric engine works and then experience it in all its glory and wildness."
Thermals: The hot and sunny climate of Omarama is ideal for creating these vertical updrafts of warm air that give gliders lift. Once pilots finds a thermal they can fly in circles within the thermal and gain altitude before flying on.
The Southern Alps: "Because there are oceans either side of the alps," says Wills, "when the hot air rises in the mountains, it draws the sea air in forming convergence fronts — similar to a cold front on the weather map — which create long bands of lift [lenticular clouds] that run up and down the South Island. One can fly very long distances."
Thanx to Madie for the link ;)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=10605675&pnum=0
Sunday Oct 25, 2009
By Scott Kara
You'd think the tow rope would be a bit thicker. The thin white line snaking across the ground between the glider and the plane looks more like a flimsy bit of string than a robust cable. "Yeah, sometimes they snap, but there's plenty of runway to play with," says glider pilot Richie McCaw in his casual drawl.
That's the All Black captain wedged into the seat in front of me, making light of the tow rope that's about to haul us 1000-or-so metres into the air above the beautiful mountains, valleys, and plains of the McKenzie Country in North Otago.
It's too late to freak out though. The glider — a $250,000 space age-looking thing — trundles along the grass runway at Omarama Airfield behind the tow plane, its long, slender wings flexing slightly with the bumps and then, lift off. We follow the plane, the tow rope straining and then relaxing, as we get steadily higher. Almost immediately after McCaw detaches the tow rope with a loud snap and clunk, he asks if I want to do a 360 degree loop.
I'd seen him do two during a practice run earlier, and it made me squirm just watching it from the ground. I'm terrified of heights and not a great fan of flying (although I've never let it get in the way of me going anywhere), so now that we're more than a kilometre up in the air I have no qualms about politely chickening out in front of the All Blacks' captain. "I don't know Richie. I might pass, eh? This is a big move for me just being up here," I say, meekly.
He's okay with it, and recounts a story about flying here with his dad when he was a young fella. "When I was about 8 or 9, my dad and I got reasonably high, about 8000 feet [2400m], and Dad said, 'Right, do you want to do a loop?' And we just did about a dozen, all the way down ready to land.
"I love that sort of stuff, it's a bit like a rollercoaster. As you pull through you get a bit of G [force], then you see the ground come around. It's a bit like doing wheelies, I guess," he laughs.
Flying or, more specifically, gliding, is McCaw's other sporting passion besides rugby. He stars in the new Discovery Channel series, Sportstar Insider, hosted by Australian rugby league great-turned-TV host Andrew "ET" Ettingshausen, which looks at the science and know-how behind extreme sports like acrobatic flying, big wave surfing, and free diving.
A few years ago McCaw played a part in inspiring the idea for the series, after convincing Mandy Pattinson, the head of the Discovery network in Australia and New Zealand, to do a show about gliding. "I chewed her ear off about it," he says. Earlier this year they filmed McCaw at Omarama for the show, which screens on November 5.
This tiny little junction town, on State Highway 8 about two hours' drive north of Queenstown, is a world famous gliding spot. Its unique mix of landscape, wind and beautifully hot and sunny weather during the summer months combine to create ideal gliding conditions. Put simply, the climate around Omarama creates "thermals", gliding speak for the vertical up-drafts that give the gliders lift. When you go through them you feel a short, shuddering bump.
Another key feature of this area is how the wind hurtles over the Southern Alps from the west, creating a "standing wave" on the lee side — that's the sheltered side — of the alps. When conditions are right, lenticular clouds form and the glider can run along the front of these clouds at a fast rate of knots and at high altitudes.
"The perception people have is that you just float around and it's relaxing. And it is relaxing, but figuring out how to stay up there is the hard part," says McCaw. "You're using the atmosphere, the wind, and whatever the sun is doing, and you have to learn how to use those elements to stay up in the air — and then be able to go somewhere. That's the real art and sport of gliding, I reckon."
For something that doesn't have a motor, a glider can cover extreme distances — and soar at heights of up to 6000m. Two of McCaw's favourite runs are to head 100km north to the Tasman Glacier and Mount Cook ("Soaring the face of Mt Cook. That's pretty awesome"), or to go 100km west to Mt Aspiring and take a run down the Mt Brewster glacier.
"The real intrigue I've got for it is every time you go out it's different. With power flying you turn your engine on and go somewhere. Whereas with this, you are on a mission to get somewhere, but you may not get there, and you may not get home. But that's what it's all about."
At the airfield today, it's cold, grey, and threatening rain. But McCaw and Gavin Wills, his gliding instructor, mentor and owner of GlideOmarama, don't look too worried. It might not be scenic soaring weather but "we'll get up." And a few hours later, true to form, a big blue hole appears in the sky, making a perfect gliding arena — for novices who are scared of heights like me, at least. We're off to find some thermals.
Flying is in the McCaw family's blood. His grandfather was a fighter pilot in World War II, flying Typhoons, Tempests and Hurricanes; his dad, Don, and his two uncles fly gliders and McCaw has loved flying since "before I can remember."
He's had a licence to fly fixed-wing aircraft since the early 2000s — he flew to Omarama from Christchurch in his little plane to meet us here today — and did his first solo glider flight in 2005.
The old family farm in the Hakataramea Valley, where Richie grew up — about 50km from Omarama — had an airstrip, from which the North Otago Gliding Club operated. "I used to jump in the back of the tow plane with Dad and loved it. I guess that's where I got the bug. I just loved it and I knew it was something I was always going to do. Dad and I talk more about flying than we do rugby," says McCaw.
There are similarities between the two sports, he says. "Gliding is about being aware. Aware of where things are, the conditions, and it's about being able to process all that, I suppose that's what you do in rugby."
"The McCaws," says Wills, who has known the family for years, "are more famous in gliding than that other thing they do." It's obvious Wills is biased towards gliding, but he reckons McCaw has the potential to be a better glider pilot than rugby player. "He has this situational awareness. He sees clouds, assesses the situation, asks questions if he needs to, then goes."
He describes his famous protege as thoughtful, determined, and competitive. But "humble" is the description he offers up last: "His ego is tucked back there somewhere, which is rare for a rugby player."
He's right. McCaw is a laid-back country boy. Before we take off he chats keenly about the glider, explaining all the little instruments in the cockpit, when you might need oxygen (thankfully we won't be going that high). And he gleefully points out the single linchpin that fixes the wings to the glider's body. Apparently you can dismantle them and put them in a trailer if need be.
The only time he's a little reticent is when talk turns to rugby. The All Blacks' patchy performances this year have meant an especially challenging season for the captain, even rivalling the failed 2007 World Cup bid. "There is a bit of pressure on, and first of all you have to get your own game right, and then help the team. I love challenges in life and this year has certainly been a challenge. And, you know, we're playing against some pretty good teams.
"There are going to be times when it's not that easy, but you've got to keep belief in what you're doing, and if you start doubting yourself and what you're doing then you're never going to get it right."
You can hardly blame McCaw for being less enthused by rugby when he's in Omarama. This airfield, which is deserted today but gets overrun with local and overseas enthusiasts during the summer months, is his escape.
"The people here don't care too much about rugby," he says.
"On the airfield a lot of them watch the rugby but they don't get carried away with it. Coming here, you fit in with what they are doing and you're not the centre of attention. I learned off these guys. So you get back here and forget about things for a bit and have some fun. That's what it's all about. If you have a weekend here you get home refreshed. If you don't have these sorts of outlets you'd go nuts."
And Omarama holds some fond memories for him. He used to spend school holidays here at the campground and these days he and his folks own a house here. "This valley is where I grew up and now it's my holiday joint where I come to have fun."
Back up high in the sky, we haven't had much luck finding quality thermal action. But still, McCaw tries to coax some action out of the atmosphere by spiralling around and around. As he does this I look out across my shoulder, down the long flexing wing, and it's as if I'm horizontal to the ground. I'd heard how gliding was all about silent flight — and up here, as you drift, glide and soar, it's serene with only a faint whirring sound working its way into the cramped cockpit.
Surprisingly, today's soaring experience is far less harrowing than the erratic turbulence I'd experienced during the flight from Auckland to Queenstown the day before. But, sadly, the conditions today are a "dead dog", reckons McCaw, so we head for home. As we swoop in to land, the rusty barbed wire fence at the end of the runway looks a little closer than one might wish, but he lands it like a magic carpet in the middle of the grassy field.
"I suppose that was a boring flight for you?" I ask him. "Nah. I just love being up there. It's the closest thing to having wings on your back."
* Richie McCaw appears on Sportstar Insider, on the Discovery Channel at 8.30pm on November 5.
GUIDE TO GLIDING
Gliding is about more than just getting towed up into the air and drifting back down. It's about seeking out thermals, getting lift, soaring, charging into lenticular clouds, and then riding them as far as you can. It also helps if you've got a land form like the Southern Alps to help create a unique soaring environment.
The basics: "Your engine is the atmosphere," says Gavin Wills, Richie McCaw's gliding instructor. "We boil it down to being simply a function of the sun, the wind and the terrain. That's the guts of it. The glider pilot has to learn how the atmospheric engine works and then experience it in all its glory and wildness."
Thermals: The hot and sunny climate of Omarama is ideal for creating these vertical updrafts of warm air that give gliders lift. Once pilots finds a thermal they can fly in circles within the thermal and gain altitude before flying on.
The Southern Alps: "Because there are oceans either side of the alps," says Wills, "when the hot air rises in the mountains, it draws the sea air in forming convergence fronts — similar to a cold front on the weather map — which create long bands of lift [lenticular clouds] that run up and down the South Island. One can fly very long distances."
Thanx to Madie for the link ;)
Monday, October 19, 2009
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
McCaw the high flyer
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-news/news/2928795/McCaw-the-high-flyer
EXCLUSIVE BY DAVID LONG - Sunday News
04/10/2009
THE sky is the limit for All Blacks captain Richie McCaw – he's become a squadron leader for the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Sunday News can today exclusively reveal the 74-test veteran has accepted a request by the RNZAF to become an honorary squadron leader until December 31, 2011.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to mix with them and also to give them a bit of my experience in what we (the All Blacks) do," McCaw said.
The position is fitting for McCaw, who is proudly following in the jetstream of his late grandfather Jim McCaw who was a RNZAF fighter pilot during World War II.
"We had a pretty good relationship. I learnt to fly in the same place as he learnt to fly and he used to tell me stories about the war all the time," McCaw told the TimesOnline in 2006.
In 1944 McCaw senior saved countless Londoners' lives by shooting down German V1 rockets and when he ran out of ammunition bravely risked his life by bumping missiles off-target using the wing-tip of his Hawker Tempest MK5.
He was credited with 19 1/2 "kills" and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his attacks on German-controlled railways and missions over sea which saw 73 ships destroyed.
When McCaw was nine he flew gliders around Otago with his grandfather, who died in 1996.
Since then McCaw has gained his pilot's licence and taken flights with the RNZAF.
"I've got to know a couple of guys in the Air Force over the last three or four years, just by chance," McCaw told Sunday News."Because of that I ended up doing a bit of flying with them, because obviously I've got that interest.
"Last year I popped up to Woodburn, Blenheim, and talked to some of their officer cadets and it went from there. I talked to them a bit about the leadership stuff we do in the All Blacks and I think there are quite a few similarities between what we do in the All Blacks team to what they do in the Air Force.
"I guess that's where the offer came from and I thought it was a great opportunity to mix with them and also to give them a bit of my experience."
Group captain of Air Force People, Kevin McEvoy, said it was great to have McCaw on board.
"As a captain of the All Blacks, Mr McCaw has made himself available to the Air Force as a role model both as an outstanding sportsman and leader," he said. "His passion for aviation combined with his leadership skills and personal integrity reflect the values the Air Force seeks to foster within our own people."
The 28-year-old flanker anticipated doing similar work with young pilots and officer cadets as he's done on an informal basis in the past.
"If they feel I can offer a bit there (in leadership) then that's what I'm more than happy to do."
McCaw hasn't ruled out joining the Air Force fulltime in the future.
"Obviously over the next couple of years I'm playing and I have to do what I do to have the honorary position. But hey, who knows what happens after that? With my interest in flying you never know."
EXCLUSIVE BY DAVID LONG - Sunday News
04/10/2009
THE sky is the limit for All Blacks captain Richie McCaw – he's become a squadron leader for the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Sunday News can today exclusively reveal the 74-test veteran has accepted a request by the RNZAF to become an honorary squadron leader until December 31, 2011.
"I thought it was a great opportunity to mix with them and also to give them a bit of my experience in what we (the All Blacks) do," McCaw said.
The position is fitting for McCaw, who is proudly following in the jetstream of his late grandfather Jim McCaw who was a RNZAF fighter pilot during World War II.
"We had a pretty good relationship. I learnt to fly in the same place as he learnt to fly and he used to tell me stories about the war all the time," McCaw told the TimesOnline in 2006.
In 1944 McCaw senior saved countless Londoners' lives by shooting down German V1 rockets and when he ran out of ammunition bravely risked his life by bumping missiles off-target using the wing-tip of his Hawker Tempest MK5.
He was credited with 19 1/2 "kills" and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his attacks on German-controlled railways and missions over sea which saw 73 ships destroyed.
When McCaw was nine he flew gliders around Otago with his grandfather, who died in 1996.
Since then McCaw has gained his pilot's licence and taken flights with the RNZAF.
"I've got to know a couple of guys in the Air Force over the last three or four years, just by chance," McCaw told Sunday News."Because of that I ended up doing a bit of flying with them, because obviously I've got that interest.
"Last year I popped up to Woodburn, Blenheim, and talked to some of their officer cadets and it went from there. I talked to them a bit about the leadership stuff we do in the All Blacks and I think there are quite a few similarities between what we do in the All Blacks team to what they do in the Air Force.
"I guess that's where the offer came from and I thought it was a great opportunity to mix with them and also to give them a bit of my experience."
Group captain of Air Force People, Kevin McEvoy, said it was great to have McCaw on board.
"As a captain of the All Blacks, Mr McCaw has made himself available to the Air Force as a role model both as an outstanding sportsman and leader," he said. "His passion for aviation combined with his leadership skills and personal integrity reflect the values the Air Force seeks to foster within our own people."
The 28-year-old flanker anticipated doing similar work with young pilots and officer cadets as he's done on an informal basis in the past.
"If they feel I can offer a bit there (in leadership) then that's what I'm more than happy to do."
McCaw hasn't ruled out joining the Air Force fulltime in the future.
"Obviously over the next couple of years I'm playing and I have to do what I do to have the honorary position. But hey, who knows what happens after that? With my interest in flying you never know."
Monday, October 05, 2009
Chatterbox available on the holiday blog
sorry, that was a solution of emergency
link to the holiday blog :
link to the holiday blog :
chatterbox on the right
see you there ;)
Friday, October 02, 2009
Uneasy glider: McCaw admits Genia gave Kiwis a scare
http://www.rugbyheaven.com.au/news/news/mccaws-an-uneasy-glider/2009/10/01/1253989997529.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2
Rupert Guinness
October 2, 2009
Rookie halfback made an impression on All Blacks skipper even if the Wallabies didn't give him sleepless nights, writes Rupert Guinness.
Richie McCaw sighs, then assumes the thinker pose as he racks his brain to come up with an answer to the question, ''Have any Wallabies stood out for you this year?''
The unease grows as the seconds pass. The question has, after all, been asked about players from a team that has underperformed badly and finished last in the Tri Nations after a woeful capitulation to the Kiwis in Wellington in their final Test.
McCaw keeps you on tenterhooks - as he probably does to All Blacks coach Graham Henry when he uses his free time to pursue his hobby of gliding, as he did this week in the skies above Omarama, a two-hour drive from Queenstown.
Then, just as you begin to think that perhaps not one single Wallaby left an impression on the All Blacks captain, his eyes come alight and he lifts his head up suddenly. Then as if he has found the winning answer on Who Want to be A Millionaire?, McCaw says with a smile:
''I'll tell you who I was quite impressed with, especially in the Test in Brisbane [against the Springboks] … was [Will] Genia at halfback.
''I thought he had a hell of a good game that night. He started to run with the ball and put the Africans under pressure through that. I had never heard much of him until I saw him playing for the Wallabies. He is one.''
While such lofty recognition is a boost for Genia, it also means he will be a marked man if he plays against the All Blacks in Tokyo at the start of next month's tour that includes a grand slam campaign.
McCaw, who was in Sydney to promote the October 29 premiere of the Sportstar Insider documentary series on Discovery Channel in which he appears, says the All Blacks are now all the wiser.
''I guess it does [help]. Through a couple of the Tests he has has started, you will be able to see what he does and how he does things,'' the 76-Test veteran says of the rookie Queensland halfback. ''Against the Africans in Brisbane, he had quite an influence in exploiting around the rucks.''
It might reassure those who doubt the Wallabies that McCaw's recollection of Genia's starting debut one week earlier in their one Tri Nations win triggered a few more positives.
One is his rating for David Pocock, the 21-year-old who was McCaw's opposite number in that Wellington Test. So highly does McCaw rate Pocock, he believes the Western Force No.7 will hold a mortgage on the position for many years to come.
Asked if he had noticed Pocock, the player who has kept Waratahs captain Phil Waugh out of the Wallabies 22 this season, McCaw says:
''Probably not so much at Test level, but certainly at Super 14 level over the last couple of years. Every time I have played him he has had big games. He is still a fairly young man, and I am sure he will get better and better. He is a physical character. I think he will be appearing for a while and plays some pretty good rugby.''
McCaw had expected the Wallabies to be beaming with confidence in Wellington after defeating the Springboks. But looking back, he sees that self-confidence was lacking in both sides.
''It was probably the most pressure on the All Blacks for a long time,'' McCaw says. ''I thought, after the Brisbane Test, [the Wallabies] would think, 'We are back on track.' But we were certainly eager to play well. From our point of view, perhaps our confidence was down a little.
''I know there has been talk they didn't stand up. It was still a tough Test. It was only in the last minutes that we got away and the score blew out. They were attacking our line 10 to 12 minutes to go. A try would have got them back in the game. By the end, I was absolutely knackered. We were pretty desperate. We had been under the cosh as well. Both teams struggled for confidence.''
McCaw, captain since 2006, was left searching for the leadership spark he felt he had lost.
''I didn't feel like I was performing as well as I should have in the Tri Nations,'' McCaw says. ''But if you start doubting what we are trying to do, and the guys look around at those who have been around are doubting it, it's not going to help. Sometimes you think, 'Geez, what do I need to do to get this sorted?' But you come back to say, 'OK, there are things you know you can do and if I address these, it can work.' That helps a hell of a lot, having been around and having confidence you can do it.''
McCAW IN HIS OWN WORDS...
On gliding
''Flying is something I love. My father was a glider pilot when I was young. I was always around them and loved it. I was 10 when I first went with the old man. We did loops. I have always been into aeroplanes. The first thing I did was get my licence and then moved on to gliders. The reason I was keen to be on the show [Sportstar Insider, to be shown on the Discovery Channel on October 29] is because it is a sport I love and am passionate about. I thought, what a great opportunity to show people the sport of gliding and the special scenery in New Zealand. I jumped at the chance to do it and show people what else I do.''
Have the Springboks peaked early?
''That is what we got accused of for the last bloody three years! It's hard to the know. I hope that is the case. What we are seeing [based on this time before] the previous World Cup - we saw where were at, the Springboks were at and the Wallabies were at - is that come two years time it is totally different. You would never have picked the way it would end. One year is a long time. A lot of things change. I don't the think too much can be written into what's happening now.''
His successor
''We have been pretty lucky in the All Blacks having a good bunch of senior guys that are probably all capable of leading. I look at younger guys coming up. A guy who springs to mind is Kieran Read. He is a hell of a good player and is going to have a lot of time in the All Blacks. He is the type of guy who has the qualities. You don't want to put pressure on him straight away. He has only been there a year and has quite a senior role. He has really good rugby nous.''
Brad Thorn make you think about league?
''No, never thought about it, to be honest. I don't know whether I would be any good at it. It was never something that came across my radar. My dream has always been to play for the All Blacks. I must say I have admired Brad and have been interested in what are the differences and how league compared to union. He said the time he had in league was good, but when he needed a new challenge it was obviously him being an All Black. You have to take the hat off to the guy.''
Leading the haka
''The guys who usually lead it were not there. I've also been fairly involved with how the new one came about. I led it once in 2006 and was one of the only guys who had done it before. It's a privilege. You still have to get your mind ready to play rugby. Sometimes it goes the other way and you go over the top. It's something all Kiwis are proud of, if you have Maori background or not. I think it's a significant thing in world rugby. We're just the lucky guys who get to do it.''
Crazy fans
''A few years ago we were training in a small rural town. It was a public session and some woman stripped off and had 'Marry me, Richie' [written on her chest] and ran across the training field. But I wasn't there. I was injured and meant to be there but arrived late because I was seeing a doctor. It was on the news. It was a public training session and hundreds of people were there. I arrived just after it happened and wondered what all the fuss was about!'' **
Playing in France
''I would love to live over there, but it's pretty hard yakka playing rugby there. If I am leaving New Zealand, it probably means the body is getting to the end or they are telling me to move on. I would love to experience France.''
Possible v Probable Wallabies
''You can understand why they want to have it, but you can understand the players' side as well. I am involved with the players' union at home and I can understand that if another game gets thrown in, there would be questions asked.''
Rupert Guinness
October 2, 2009
Rookie halfback made an impression on All Blacks skipper even if the Wallabies didn't give him sleepless nights, writes Rupert Guinness.
Richie McCaw sighs, then assumes the thinker pose as he racks his brain to come up with an answer to the question, ''Have any Wallabies stood out for you this year?''
The unease grows as the seconds pass. The question has, after all, been asked about players from a team that has underperformed badly and finished last in the Tri Nations after a woeful capitulation to the Kiwis in Wellington in their final Test.
McCaw keeps you on tenterhooks - as he probably does to All Blacks coach Graham Henry when he uses his free time to pursue his hobby of gliding, as he did this week in the skies above Omarama, a two-hour drive from Queenstown.
Then, just as you begin to think that perhaps not one single Wallaby left an impression on the All Blacks captain, his eyes come alight and he lifts his head up suddenly. Then as if he has found the winning answer on Who Want to be A Millionaire?, McCaw says with a smile:
''I'll tell you who I was quite impressed with, especially in the Test in Brisbane [against the Springboks] … was [Will] Genia at halfback.
''I thought he had a hell of a good game that night. He started to run with the ball and put the Africans under pressure through that. I had never heard much of him until I saw him playing for the Wallabies. He is one.''
While such lofty recognition is a boost for Genia, it also means he will be a marked man if he plays against the All Blacks in Tokyo at the start of next month's tour that includes a grand slam campaign.
McCaw, who was in Sydney to promote the October 29 premiere of the Sportstar Insider documentary series on Discovery Channel in which he appears, says the All Blacks are now all the wiser.
''I guess it does [help]. Through a couple of the Tests he has has started, you will be able to see what he does and how he does things,'' the 76-Test veteran says of the rookie Queensland halfback. ''Against the Africans in Brisbane, he had quite an influence in exploiting around the rucks.''
It might reassure those who doubt the Wallabies that McCaw's recollection of Genia's starting debut one week earlier in their one Tri Nations win triggered a few more positives.
One is his rating for David Pocock, the 21-year-old who was McCaw's opposite number in that Wellington Test. So highly does McCaw rate Pocock, he believes the Western Force No.7 will hold a mortgage on the position for many years to come.
Asked if he had noticed Pocock, the player who has kept Waratahs captain Phil Waugh out of the Wallabies 22 this season, McCaw says:
''Probably not so much at Test level, but certainly at Super 14 level over the last couple of years. Every time I have played him he has had big games. He is still a fairly young man, and I am sure he will get better and better. He is a physical character. I think he will be appearing for a while and plays some pretty good rugby.''
McCaw had expected the Wallabies to be beaming with confidence in Wellington after defeating the Springboks. But looking back, he sees that self-confidence was lacking in both sides.
''It was probably the most pressure on the All Blacks for a long time,'' McCaw says. ''I thought, after the Brisbane Test, [the Wallabies] would think, 'We are back on track.' But we were certainly eager to play well. From our point of view, perhaps our confidence was down a little.
''I know there has been talk they didn't stand up. It was still a tough Test. It was only in the last minutes that we got away and the score blew out. They were attacking our line 10 to 12 minutes to go. A try would have got them back in the game. By the end, I was absolutely knackered. We were pretty desperate. We had been under the cosh as well. Both teams struggled for confidence.''
McCaw, captain since 2006, was left searching for the leadership spark he felt he had lost.
''I didn't feel like I was performing as well as I should have in the Tri Nations,'' McCaw says. ''But if you start doubting what we are trying to do, and the guys look around at those who have been around are doubting it, it's not going to help. Sometimes you think, 'Geez, what do I need to do to get this sorted?' But you come back to say, 'OK, there are things you know you can do and if I address these, it can work.' That helps a hell of a lot, having been around and having confidence you can do it.''
McCAW IN HIS OWN WORDS...
On gliding
''Flying is something I love. My father was a glider pilot when I was young. I was always around them and loved it. I was 10 when I first went with the old man. We did loops. I have always been into aeroplanes. The first thing I did was get my licence and then moved on to gliders. The reason I was keen to be on the show [Sportstar Insider, to be shown on the Discovery Channel on October 29] is because it is a sport I love and am passionate about. I thought, what a great opportunity to show people the sport of gliding and the special scenery in New Zealand. I jumped at the chance to do it and show people what else I do.''
Have the Springboks peaked early?
''That is what we got accused of for the last bloody three years! It's hard to the know. I hope that is the case. What we are seeing [based on this time before] the previous World Cup - we saw where were at, the Springboks were at and the Wallabies were at - is that come two years time it is totally different. You would never have picked the way it would end. One year is a long time. A lot of things change. I don't the think too much can be written into what's happening now.''
His successor
''We have been pretty lucky in the All Blacks having a good bunch of senior guys that are probably all capable of leading. I look at younger guys coming up. A guy who springs to mind is Kieran Read. He is a hell of a good player and is going to have a lot of time in the All Blacks. He is the type of guy who has the qualities. You don't want to put pressure on him straight away. He has only been there a year and has quite a senior role. He has really good rugby nous.''
Brad Thorn make you think about league?
''No, never thought about it, to be honest. I don't know whether I would be any good at it. It was never something that came across my radar. My dream has always been to play for the All Blacks. I must say I have admired Brad and have been interested in what are the differences and how league compared to union. He said the time he had in league was good, but when he needed a new challenge it was obviously him being an All Black. You have to take the hat off to the guy.''
Leading the haka
''The guys who usually lead it were not there. I've also been fairly involved with how the new one came about. I led it once in 2006 and was one of the only guys who had done it before. It's a privilege. You still have to get your mind ready to play rugby. Sometimes it goes the other way and you go over the top. It's something all Kiwis are proud of, if you have Maori background or not. I think it's a significant thing in world rugby. We're just the lucky guys who get to do it.''
Crazy fans
''A few years ago we were training in a small rural town. It was a public session and some woman stripped off and had 'Marry me, Richie' [written on her chest] and ran across the training field. But I wasn't there. I was injured and meant to be there but arrived late because I was seeing a doctor. It was on the news. It was a public training session and hundreds of people were there. I arrived just after it happened and wondered what all the fuss was about!'' **
Playing in France
''I would love to live over there, but it's pretty hard yakka playing rugby there. If I am leaving New Zealand, it probably means the body is getting to the end or they are telling me to move on. I would love to experience France.''
Possible v Probable Wallabies
''You can understand why they want to have it, but you can understand the players' side as well. I am involved with the players' union at home and I can understand that if another game gets thrown in, there would be questions asked.''
**but who was it?? I'm curious... Email me!!! Mary*L
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