Richie McCaw

A former captain of the All Blacks and a double Rugby World Cup winner, Richie McCaw is one of the finest rugby players to ever play the game. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he was named the World Rugby player of the year three times, the World Rugby player of the decade once and the New Zealand sportsman of the decade. Richie McCaw RugbyPass Hall of Fame

Born 31 December 1980, Richie McCaw began playing rugby at a young age. However, he did not take the game seriously until he went to boarding school in Dunedin. He went on to study at university, but left early to pursue his rugby interests and signed for Canterbury in 2000 and the Crusaders in 2001.

After only appearing for Canterbury 17 times, Richie McCaw was first selected for the All Blacks in 2001. The move was criticised at the time by former All Blacks, but Richie McCaw won the man of the match award on his debut and was selected as both the New Zealand Rugby Football Union Under-21 and Air New Zealand NPC Division One Player of the Year following the conclusion of a successful tour.

Following his debut for New Zealand, Richie McCaw became a regular for Canterbury, the Crusaders and the All Blacks. After several successful seasons at domestic level and many outstanding performances for New Zealand, he was named All Blacks captain in May 2006.

Throughout his international career, Richie McCaw went on to make 148 appearances for the All Blacks and he captained the team 110 times. As part of this, he became the first All Black to reach 100 caps, and the first rugby union player to win 100 tests. He also won the Rugby World Cup twice and the Tri Nations & The Rugby Championship 10 times. Plus, in 2013, he led the All Blacks to a perfect year, with 14 wins from 14 tests. At the domestic level, Canterbury won the NPC (later Mitre10 Cup) five times, and the Crusaders won four Super Rugby titles.

In November 2015, Richie McCaw retired from rugby. Since, many analysts (including New Zealand coach Steve Hansen) have claimed that he’s the greatest All Black of all time. Following his retirement, he was appointed a member of New Zealand’s highest honour, the Order of New Zealand, in the 2016 New Year Honours. He was also quite rightly inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2019.