$5k raised for McCaw statue

Just $5000 has been raised towards a statue to immortalise All Blacks great Richie McCaw in his hometown Kurow, but the project’s leader remains confident the tribute will go ahead.

The bronze statue concept for the small South Island town was revealed in August and was expected to cost $100,000.

About $5000 has been raised in the first month. The slow start was not deterring project leader John Sturgeon.

‘‘I’m feeling good about it,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s early days yet, we’ve only just started the project.’’

There had been plenty of sup- port in the community for the statue, including from the McCaw family.

‘‘We actually haven’t heard directly from Richie, but his family’s given their support for the project, as has Richie through the family.

‘‘We would like to see him in Kurow at some stage.’’

The New Zealand Rugby Union had been approached about whether it would consider throwing its support behind the project, he said. McCaw’s former Super Rugby franchise, the Crusaders, would also be approached.

‘‘We’ve had very positive feedback from people, people are enthusiastic about it,’’ Sturgeon said.

McCaw was one of the All Black greats, having led the team to back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles in 2015 and being the mostcapped player in test history, with 148.

Oamaru artist Don Paterson has been commissioned to create the life-sized sculpture. Paterson’s sculptures include one of French painter Charles Meryon in Akaroa and another of Captain Henry Cain in Timaru.

He had sculpted statues of antique copper and calcite polymer, and McCaw’s statue would likely follow suit. Paterson said he had been commissioned to make small sculptures in previous years for the likes of New Zealand Rugby Union and the Canterbury Rugby Football Union.