Relentess Richie marches on and on

Fourteen years and 140 tests have not dimmed Richie McCaw’s spirit, nor blunted his body. The numbers on their own are remarkable. In Sydney tonight the All Blacks captain will draw level with Ireland centre Brian O’Driscoll as the world’s most capped test player.

It may be the last time McCaw plays a test on Australian soil and you get the feeling he knows his amazing rugby ride is coming to a close.

What’s remarkable is the 34-year-old’s relentless attitude toward success.

‘‘You don’t ever want to sit back and think you are better than you are because the next game is the one I’ll remember, the one next Saturday,’’ McCaw said when asked about his latest statistical milestone.

‘‘You want do that well. You have people who want to knock you off and get the better of you and that’s the challenge that keeps you excited. I never want anyone to get that easy, or get one over me.’’

That’s what makes the All Blacks openside great. His mind is wired to the next task, the next ruck, the next tackle, the next match.

And with every experience, good or bad, McCaw has become more resilient, smarter, more determined to succeed.

‘‘In 2003 we won by 50 points here [in Sydney] which was pretty amazing really and then a few months later we lost the [World Cup] semifinal to the same team,’’ he said when asked about his Bledisloe Cup highlights. ‘‘So there’s been the good and the bad, but that’s a memory I always have about how quickly things turn around in sport.’’

The other matches that spring to McCaw’s mind are the pain of defeat in his first Bledisloe Cup series in 2002 and the satisfaction of coming from behind to win 23-22 in 2010.

McCaw has an ability to understand and deal with pressure and as he watched the Australian cricket team collapse against England during their Ashes test on Thursday night he, better than most, knew what the players on both teams were going through.

‘‘The thought I had was guys under pressure, that’s what happens. Pressure does funny things if you let it get on top of you and I think that’s what happened. The English got their tails up and the other team didn’t and that can be nasty.’’

As it was in 2007 when the All Blacks lost to France in the World Cup quarterfinals, or in 2003 when they crashed out at the hands of Australia.

McCaw will be remembered for his successes, but over 140 tests his greatest asset may well be the lessons he’s learned from his rare failures, just 14 losses during his All Blacks career.

‘‘The inevitable thing in sport is you aren’t going to win every single one,’’ he said. ‘‘They [the losses] still grate me, but sometimes your best learnings come from some of those matches. You reflect on them later. I remember them all for the different reasons why you ended up on the wrong side of the score sheet, but there are lessons that help down the line so you don’t lose too many more. That’s a big driver.’’

McCaw doesn’t come across as obsessive, but he clearly has the ability to take good and bad alike and use them to his advantage.

He vividly recalls knocking on with his first touch of the ball in test rugby against Ireland in Dublin in 2001.

‘‘The thing I think about is how did I manage to understand what playing test rugby was all about when I think of the experiences I’ve had since. I think sheer enthusiasm and a desire to get stuck in helped out a lot. I wasn’t even 100kg when I started and you probably couldn’t get away with that these days.

‘‘Just loving getting the opportunity and getting out and mixing it up got me through for a start. And yeah, I remember dropping that ball and thinking it might be my last one.’’

McCaw smiles at the thought of his 20-year-old self fluffing his first line as an All Black.

If one thing has changed since then, it might be the fact he’s finally learned to cherish and enjoy his chosen career.

‘‘Sometimes you put a lot of pressure on yourself to perform and that can go against you. I think in Super Rugby [this year] I was trying as hard as I have ever tried and it didn’t flow as well as normally and the team didn’t go so well.

‘‘Toward the latter half I perhaps relaxed a bit and went out with a bit less weight on my shoulders rather than trying to do this or that, and it made it a bit easier.’’

Still learning. Still adapting. Still driven. And still in great shape physically for the rigours of the professional game.

‘‘I was chatting with one of the lads last night. To be honest I think back to when I was younger and I wasn’t as well conditioned or good at looking after myself, and I probably struggled with injuries more through the middle of my career than I do now.

‘‘There might be a bit of luck involved in that. If you stop doing things in the off season you start to feel them, but if you keep ticking over you feel pretty good… I feel in the best physical condition I have in a long while and long may it last.

‘‘People get caught up in saying [you are struggling], but just because you are old and have been through a few battles over the years it doesn’t necessarily equate to rolling out of bed in a heap.’’

He won a World Cup on one foot and has been consistently one of the world’s best players for most of his career, but, not surprisingly, McCaw isn’t entirely comfortable with all the praise that’s thrown his way.

But that’s not to say he’s not proud of what he’s achieved.

‘‘I’m just happy I’m still around,’’ McCaw said of reaching O’Driscoll’s mark. ‘‘I’m certainly proud I can still foot it after all these years and be good enough to be in the team. One thing I’ve always said is it’s not just a matter of racking up the numbers.’’

You have people who want to knock you off and get the better of you and that’s the challenge that keeps you excited.

Richie McCaw