McCaw’s quick-fix for rugby
All Blacks great Richie McCaw would like to see a stop-clock govern scrums to stop the time wasting that blights rugby.
The double World Cup winning skipper has done a quick question and answer session with fans for World Rugby and was asked what rule change the governing body could implement to help the game.
‘‘One of the things I get a bit frustrated by is the way a scrum can eat up a lot of time in the game,’’ McCaw said.
‘‘If I was going to change something it would be to stop the clock when awarding a scrum and it starts again when the ball comes in. You’d get quite a bit more rugby.’’
As the All Blacks get set to operate under new coach Ian Foster, McCaw says he has no serious coaching ambitions at the top level.
‘‘I think I’d just get too frustrated,’’ he said. ‘‘As a player I could get out there and do something about it. But when you are a coach I think you have to have a different
way of looking at it. But I’d like to coach young kids one day.’’
Asked who the most inspiring and hard-working All Black he had played alongside was, McCaw didn’t hesitate to nominate his good friend Dan Carter.
‘‘The amount of work he used to put in to make sure he was right to play on Saturday meant everyone around him made sure they were doing their little bits.’’
In terms of his most respected opponent, McCaw opted for Wallabies flanker George Smith.
‘‘He was pretty tough,’’ McCaw said, adding that his favourite back row combination was playing alongside Kieran Read and Jerome Kaino.