McNice Guy

Richie McCaw hopes a closer rematch will improve the health of world rugby.

Richie McCaw hopes the Bledisloe Cup rematch is closer for the better health of southern hemisphere and world rugby.

The retired New Zealand captain knows it’s not want the current All Blacks need to hear and admits he might sound like ‘‘a bloody idiot’’, but he’s looking at the bigger picture.

McCaw was ‘‘pretty impressed’’ with New Zealand’s 42-8 thumping of Australia in Sydney in last week and expects Steve Hansen’s side to win again in Wellington tonight to retain the giant cup.

‘‘I reckon it’ll be closer,’’ McCaw told The Guardian of the rematch.

‘‘Aussies don’t lie down. But I can still see the All Blacks winning.

‘‘They’ve got too much firepower, especially when they can pull guys off the bench like the two Saveas. It must be horrible when you’re in the opposition seeing those guys coming on.

‘‘I hope that it is a bit closer, because you don’t want to see big one-sided results for the top teams. I don’t think that’s healthy for southern hemisphere rugby, or for world rugby.

‘‘But I can say that now I’m no longer playing. As a player that’s the last thing you want to hear, bloody idiots like me spouting on like that.’’

McCaw, who has been in New York on business after attending the Rio Olympics, watched the Bledisloe Cup opener on TV and said the All Blacks’ continued excellence was what he expected after he led them to backto-back World Cup triumphs last year.

Coming on top of a series whitewash of Wales in June, the world champions have shown they have moved on quickly despite the retirements of McCaw, Dan Carter and several other experienced players.

‘‘Every opportunity they got, they nailed. That’s the great thing about the ABs. It doesn’t matter who you are, the team just moves on. They were never going to miss me and DC,’’ McCaw told