Friday, January 13, 2012

All Blacks: McCaw's 'time will come'

Richie McCaw (L) and Sir Graham Henry carry the Webb Ellis Cup through Auckland after the RWC final


Rugby World Cup-winning coach Graham Henry is not surprised that All Blacks captain Richie McCaw declined the honour of a knighthood.

"He is a young fella and he has a few years ahead of him playing rugby," he said. "He will probably feel uncomfortable about that (a knighthood), particularly when he is captaining the side and is still playing rugby.
"But I am sure his time will come."

The 65-year-old former school teacher, who resigned the All Blacks coaching job after the World Cup final in October, is now Sir Graham Henry and the latest of a handful of former players or coaches to receive one of New Zealand's highest honours.

Martin Snedden, the former test cricketer who headed the company that organised the World Cup, has been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit, one step down from a knighthood.

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw was also approached by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key and offered a knighthood but declined, saying that at 30 and with at least two years still to run on his All Blacks contract, it would be too soon to be Sir Richie.

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