McCaw player of decade
Seven All Blacks and six Black Ferns named in rugby’s teams of the past 10 years
Former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw and France star Jessy Tremouliere have been voted the men’s and women’s rugby players of the past decade.
Two-time World Cup-winner McCaw and Tremouliere, who has played both 15s and sevens for France since 2011, topped a worldwide public vote on the best male and female 15s players from 2010 to 2019.
Fiji’s Olympic sevens gold medallist Jerry Tuawai was voted the men’s sevens player of the decade, and New Zealand’s Portia Woodman was named women’s sevens player of the decade. Woodman also won the award for the women’s 15s best try.
“To get an award like this is pretty humbling,” said McCaw, who led New Zealand to World Cup victories in 2011 and 2015.
“When you’re in a team sport, you rely on a good bunch of teammates around you to have any sort of success, so I guess I was lucky for that. And probably quite lucky [because] I only played half the decade.”
McCaw played a New Zealand-record 148 tests before retiring from international rugby after the 2015 World Cup.
Woodman credited her New Zealand teammates with her success.
“The girls do so much work, we go through so many sacrifices throughout our lives,” she said. “Even though you’ve been playing the game for nine years, you miss birthdays, you miss tangi, you miss seeing your whanau. But it’s not necessarily a sacrifice for us. It’s a choice because we want to be where we are and living the dream.”
Woodman was one of six New Zealanders named in the world women’s 15s team of the decade. The others were Fiao’o Faamausili, Eloise Blackwell, Linda Itunu, Kendra Cocksedge and Kelly Brazier.
McCaw was one of seven past or present All Blacks named in the World Rugby men’s 15s team of the decade. Owen Franks, Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock joined their captain in the forward pack, while Dan Carter, Ma’a Nonu and Ben Smith were named in the backs.
South Africa contributed three players, with front rowers Tendai Mtawarira and Bismarck du Plessis and winger Bryan Habana in the lineup. Ireland are represented by halfback Conor Murray and centre Brian O’Driscoll, Australia by flanker David Pocock, Italy by No 8 Sergio Parisse and Wales by winger George North,
“I never expected something like this, obviously it’s a huge honour,” Parisse said. “I thank World Rugby for this. It’s a really nice thing for my career, at the end, of course, of my career. The last 10 years were really exciting for me.”