THE FIVE TOUGHEST ALL BLACKS

Steve Hansen has labelled Richie McCaw the toughest player he has been involved with during his long time as a professional rugby coach and it’s hard to argue against that.

But McCaw isn’t alone when it comes to toughness and the All Blacks jersey.

It’s one of the key attributes for playing in the world’s most successful rugby team.

Here are five of the hardest men to have pulled on the black jersey.

COLIN MEADS

Meads had plenty of time to stamp his mark on the game, playing international rugby for 14 years in a career that saw him turn out for his final test against the 1971 British and Irish Lions in 1971 at the age of 35.

He might have gone on even longer had he not broken his back later that year in a car crash. He was back playing rugby five months later and only differences of opinion with All Blacks coach Bob

Duff saw him out of the equation in 1972.

This was a man who played on against Eastern

Transvaal in South

Africa 1970 after suffering a broken arm.

When the doctor cut away his shirt and confirmed the break, Meads muttered: ‘‘At least we won the bloody game.’’ He missed the first two tests of a rugged tour but returned for the third and played with his still broken arm covered by a thin guard.

It was the sort of courage that had seen him return to the field against France in 1967 after being viciously kicked in the head as he lay on the ground.

In an era before video referees and extensive TV coverage, Meads was also known to deal out his own justice.

The man dubbed Pinetree had the respect of everyone he played with and against.

WAYNE SHELFORD

Big Buck suffered arguably the most gruesome injury to hit an All Black when he was No 8 in the infamous ‘‘Battle of Nantes’’ against France in 1986.

He was caught at the bottom of a ruck and worked over by the

French forwards with their rucking ripping open his scrotum and leaving one testicle hanging free. There was also some missing teeth as boots flew at the other end of his body.

Incredibly, Shelford ordered the All Blacks medics to stitch up the injury and he returned to the field.

The French got at him again with a blow to his head leaving him concussed and eventually being forced off. But a legend was born.

Like Meads, Shelford was never shy to sort out differences with players when referees refused to step in.

RICHIE McCAW

We’re with Hansen on this one. McCaw’s claims to be on any list of

All Blacks hard men just can’t be ignored.

He was as mentally tough as he was physically and that’s why he got to play 148 tests between 2001 and

2015, winning two World

Cups along the way as an inspirational skipper. To do that playing primarily as a No 7 but also in other areas of the back row, speaks heaps about McCaw’s endurance qualities. He was dominating breakdowns with opposition players flying at him from every angle.

Lesser players wouldn’t have lasted and the 2011 World Cup triumph was testimony to McCaw’s toughness as he battled through a tournament with a foot injury that had then head coach Graham Henry wincing when he saw it.

Like Shelford and Meads, he shrugged off the injury as a consequence of his trade and simply put his head down and his best foot forward.

RON ELVIDGE

There’s something about All Blacks captains and leading by example. Elvidge epitomised that throughout his career but never more so than in what proved to be his final test in the 1950 series against the British and Irish Lions.

In a ferocious clash with Welsh midfielder Jack Matthews in a tackle, Elvidge was left needing four stitches to his forehead, and one arm hung loose from a damaged collarbone.

These were the days when substitutes weren’t allowed and when team-mate

Johnny Simpson had to leave the field with a serious knee injury,

New Zealand were down to 13 men.

Elvidge did what tough men do . . . he went back on the field and played out the game with that arm hanging limply at his side.

But his heroics weren’t done as he seagulled out on the left wing.

The All Blacks set up a rare scoring opportunity and as the ball was spun wide the final pass was hauled in by Elvidge – even managing to use his dud arm – and he crashed his way past Lions fullback Billy Cleaver to score the vital try that helped New Zealand win 6-3.

SEAN FITZPATRICK

The All Blacks hooker and captain never shied away from confrontation. Some might say he courted it with his gamesmanship and clever off the ball tactics, learned from an apprenticeship among some of the tougher All Blacks teams.

That reputation reached a frenzy in the second test of the 1994 series against the Springboks when he had an ear bitten by South

African prop Johan le

Roux.

Le Roux was sent off and Fitzpatrick later faced the media with blood dripping from his ear but smiling as he fended off questions about the incident. He was of the belief that what happened on the field stayed there.

Le Roux admitted his guilt and his defence was built around saying he had lost control of himself when he was driven from a ruck and held down by Fitzpatrick in a manner which stopped him rejoining play.

Fitzpatrick earned begrudging respect from the hard-nosed Boks and led the All Blacks on their historic tour of South Africa in 1996 when they won their first test series in the rugby-mad republic. Fitzpatrick was constantly reminded of the le Roux incident but, as usual, had the final say.