Sam Whitelock set to pass Richie McCaw as most capped All Black
Richie McCaw might be the greatest rugby player in history. With two Rugby World Cup crowns to his name, and a staggeringly impressive win-loss record, McCaw is certainly in the conversation.
The name ‘Richie McCaw’ will live on in rugby folklore forever, but as the old sporting adage goes, all records are made to be broken.
Another legendary All Black can surpass one of McCaw’s greatest individual accomplishments if he comes off the bench against Italy. That famed New Zealander is none other than Sam Whitelock.
Whitelock, 34, equalled McCaw’s record for the most test caps for an All Black with 148 during the emphatic 71-3 win over Namibia in Toulouse earlier this month.
But with a minimum of two World Cup games still to be played for the New Zealanders in France, it seemed inevitable that Whitelock would overtake McCaw in the record books.
All Blacks appearance 149 is potentially just a matter of days away for Whitelock, who has been named on the bench – and more history beckons in the weeks to come, too.
“I don’t think it takes the romance out of it (that Whitelock is on the bench). This is a credit to Sam, every game he is achieving something new at the moment,” coach Ian Foster told reporters on Wednesday.
“He equalled a record last week, he’s going to beat it this week. He’s got 150 (caps) coming up and then he’s got the most capped All Black in World Cups. Every day is a bit of a statement of something he’s achieving.”
All Blacks selectors have picked Brodie Retallick and Scott Barrett as the two starting locks to take on the Azzurri at OL Stadium. It’s pretty much a full-strength team for New Zealand.
With the All Blacks’ dreams of World Cup glory hanging in the balance – a loss to Italy would all but end their campaign – the selectors may have shown their hand.
Foster was asked about whether Retallick and Barrett were the first-choice locks, and the coach responded by speaking about the four locks he’s “happy with.”
“It’s the order we have for this game. I won’t commit to saying it’s the absolute pecking order. We just feel that right now, it’s the right one for this game.
“We’ve got four locks that we are pretty happy with their form. We’ve got Brodie (Retallick) who is coming back from injury, he’s missed a bit of rugby. He played a little bit in that France game and [against] Namibia he got 55 minutes, so we really feel he needs more time.”
The All Blacks opened their Rugby World Cup campaign with a disastrous loss to hosts France in Paris. It was unfamiliar territory for the New Zealanders, who had never lost a pool match before.
Every match is a must-win for them now, and that includes Friday night’s clash with Italy. The Azzurri have come a long way in a few years and will be desperate for a first-ever win over New Zealand.
Comments on RugbyPass
Instead of apologising, try to act like an adult, fcknut.
1 Go to commentsLooks like the Force twisted his leg…ahem arm
5 Go to commentsScotland should change their name to the Barbarians
2 Go to commentsThe game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
2 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
7 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
2 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
2 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
2 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
5 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
5 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
5 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
16 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
16 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
16 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
7 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
7 Go to comments