McCaw: These are the challenges you live for
As a competitor that’s the bit I love ... [to] test yourself in the toughest environment, and that’s where you want to be.
You don’t get to be the game’s most revered figure without developing a special empathy with its defining event.
In the case of Richie McCaw it’s the fuel that will stoke his fire for a fourth and final tilt at the Rugby World Cup.
For the All Blacks captain the next seven weeks – almost certainly his last in the black jersey – present the sort of opportunity that he lives for. Never mind that he’s had a good deal more agony than ecstasy at the four-yearly global event; even his triumphant march to the title in 2011 coming on a fractured foot that pushed him to the limits of even his remarkable pain tolerance levels.
But four years on it’s fair to say that McCaw heads to England in a buoyant state of mind as he looks to carve one final piece of history with the All Blacks.
‘‘I love the challenge,’’ McCaw said before last night’s flight out of Auckland airport. ‘‘That’s what you go out there for. It gets tough and at times you’ve got to dig in and find something to make a difference, or to get to the next breakdown.
‘‘But as a competitor that’s the bit I love. You test yourself in the toughest environment, and that’s where you want to be. You don’t walk around with a big grin on your face saying ‘this is pretty cool’. It’s finding a way through.
‘‘At the World Cup if you don’t want to be under the pump, where it all comes down to what you do in this next game, or these next few weeks, then you’re doing the wrong thing.’’
McCaw’s warrior mindset will be a big part of the All Blacks’ chances of winning a first global crown on foreign soil.
He has played a world record 142 tests, 106 of them as captain. He has lost just 15 times in a 15-year international career, and has become arguably the game’s greatest openside flanker, as well as its finest leader.
But even he has had his fair share of World Cup heartbreak. In 2003 he was part of an All Blacks side toppled in the semfinal by an Australian side they’d put 50 past just prior to the tournament; then in 2007 he led the New Zealanders to their earliest tournament exit, against France in a Cardiff quarterfinal boilover.
Of course 2011 in New Zealand erased many of those horror memories, and his inspirational effort in playing through a debilitating foot injury only enhanced his standing among an adoring Kiwi rugby public.
But now the blinkers are affixed. It’s time to go to work once more.
‘‘For those of us who have been around a while you understand what you’re going into,’’ he said. ‘‘The reality is it’s about what you do from here. I’m excited by the chance to have crack at this challenge.
‘‘It’s a big challenge, and we’re going to have to do things right. History has shown what happened last week or last year means pretty much zero. It’s what you do from here on. These are the challenges you live for as a test player.’’
And McCaw doesn’t mind admitting the enjoyment only really comes when the ultimate goal is achieved.
‘‘You take enjoyment out of doing the job right and working hard, and at the end of it if you’ve done what you’ve set out to do that’s when you get the satisfaction, and have that grin on your face.’’