McCaw is ready - it is as simple as that says Hansen

McCaw is ready - it is as simple as that says Hansen

All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen isn’t in doubt, and World Cup winning captain Richie McCaw isn’t in doubt, meaning that despite a precautionary substitution at the Hutt Recreation Ground last night, the 116-Test skipper will lead his country out in the opening match of The Investec Rugby Championship against the Wallabies.  

McCaw, who took part in his fourth rugby match since coming back from an extended break this year, donned All Blacks colours for the first time on Friday, albeit with light blue rather than the traditional black.

The flanker played a full 40 minutes against the Cantabrians, and while there was a feeling the captain could have continued, he sat out the 40 minutes against the Ricoh Wellington Lions.

There was also suggestion that the captain took a slight knock to the neck, but all rugby players who return to the field after some time away from the game know that a bit of uncomfortable feeling in the cervical area is part and parcel of the readjustment to heavy contact – especially for the men up front.

A six month break, a match for Christchurch RFC in the Canterbury Metro competition, two appearances for the Crusaders and the hit out in the Hutt Valley has proven to Hansen that his on field leader is ready for action.

“I don't think he's going to be good enough,” he said.

“I know he's going to be good enough. We just wanted him to have a good 40 and energy wise he felt pretty good and could have gone on and played more but we just thought 40 was enough.”

As for McCaw, while he still admits to ‘feeling the burn’ the most capped player in All Blacks history has made a habit of returning to the top flight after layoffs and hitting fifth gear, and while his fitness may be catching up, the grin shows that the mental desire is burning ferociously.

never had a speck of doubt, king richies going to carve up again.

still not an ideal preparation, but after an oustanding 2012 season filled with many outstanding perofmrances, on in particular which is my personal fave where he outworked the Boks looseorward starting trio in the dunedin test, McCaw managed to rack up another IRB player of the year nomination award and i wouldnt be surprised if he did ti again.

on the 17th of aug, king richie will be dining on roasted wallabies stuffed with wild rice, mmmmm yummmy.
hope cooper is playing, the more fear in the wallaby, the more succulent the meat, :o)

GO KING RICHIE & GO THE MIGHTY MIGHTY ALL BLACKS!!!

@mikey,
english girlfriend??? o_O

nah it want just the roast wallaby, it was a combination of raosted wallabies and stir fried Bok, coupled with McCaws non rugby activities which saw king richie looking slightly heavier then usual, but according to the All Blacks, McCaw is at 105kgs which is his normal playing weight, and thats great news for us, not so much the rest of the world who dont have a clue as to how to stop him, :oP

agree to disagree about McCaw being less convincing from 2009-2011, after all, king richie did get another IRB player of the year nomination and IMO would have won it had it not been for the other three he already has.

McCaw's weight is only being obsessed about by some because we haven't seen much of his playing level at the moment. One thing we do know is that he is a true profesional so his preparation will be there. His weight will be whatever is the best playing weight is  for him, he will  know what that is and will be sure to achieve.

@mikey,

"At 6'1,5" McCaw's ideal playing weight according to the medical weight scale for top athletes should be in the range 98 to 102 kgs"
i dont believe that for one second, its better to get a more rugby accurate assesment IMO, cos when u check out the follwoing,,,
liam messam - 6ft 2in - 112kgs
george smith - 5ft 11 in - 104kgs
francois louw - 6ft 2 in - 112kgs

so if McCaw is so called overwight, does that mean louw is a disgusting body part???

food for thought, or should is say, fat free food for thought, lolz, :oP

i agree with mr wins comments, McCaws weight is much ado about nothing really, sure he didnt look the terminator who treated the Boks like sarah connors bodyguard when he returned from his sabatical, but hes been in the All Blacks camp getting all the upgrades and fine tuning so that he can once again havok, :o)

 Cloudy if you are interested in real men SA is the pace to visit.

Now as for wee mcaaaaaw the kiwi bird brains are in full denial. A picture or two says it all -   

I hope saSUEis getting the picture

Ready for what?...to kill the ball at the ruck in an offside position!?...you betcha!

 Denny: Once again your comment is an example of a one eyed Bok supporters. If it's your player winning the breakdown and living on the  edge of the laws you call him "a veteran, a wiley old fox' but if it's McCaw then he's a "cheat".

McCaw plays the ref, i.e. figures out the ref's interpretation of the law & lives on the edge of this. All good rugby players do this, not just McCaw. Your worst example of a one eyed biased supporter is that bloke Skinstad.

Beeno1, you in particular, listen to Skinstad's commentary with an open mind. He is one of the people feeding you delusion of NZ refs making sure ABs win. Don't jump from a bridge   when you finally see the light :)

@mr win,

benno1 aka stormingeds idea of an open mind is leaving the cap off from a bottle of concentrate oj.

@denny,
ah the saffa foreplay before the it was the refs fault climax.

as long as ur not like brother beeno1 aka storminged and think that NZ refs officiate All Black games.

My god, who gives a shit if he's 3 or 5 kilo on the porky side, it's not hard to lose when your livelihood involves running up and down a sports field ffs. Sounds like you want to shag the guy mikey.

-

Sounds to me like you could do a better job yourself mike... However forgive me Mike for my confusion, for when I looked at the Bokkie squad i could nor find anybody clever or named Mike!

 Just W thanks for the message from down under and your down under upside down man. Maybe its your upside down view from down under that is confusing the kiwi bird brains. The rest of us are the right way up!

 Beeno1: in fact I live in Europe but don't let facts get in the way of a good rant. I guess you don't live in SA as that is down under.

You may notice that I try to speak your language (emoticons). Just ribbing you mate, it passes the time until kickoff next weekend, lol Do check out Skinstad's comentary, he's so bad he's amusing.

 I want to see Mccaw's hand being stood on if he plays  the ball on the floor or from an offside position.

Last year to whole stadium except for the ref that turned his back saw Mccaw play the ball on the floor in an offside position. It was at a ruck and Mccaw had been on the floor for about 20 seconds. Mccaw watched the referree turn his head, and he then placed his hand in the ruck and through the ruck and pulled the ball on to the All Blacks side.

Mccaw then put his head back on the ground as the referee turned around.

The referee then awared a scrum to the All Blacks for a Springbok knock on. It would be nice to see the TMO get involved for blatant illegal play. 

Sharkbok: Are the Boks so pure and innocent? Is there any lose forward who wouldn't grab for the ball whenever they can? Players are playing on the edge of legality on almost every play. One of the most obvious is drawing a penalty to avoid a try but there is also crossing/blocking & the list goes on.

This is all unfortunate but it is hypocrisy to point to one player & pretend that everyone else never infringes. The penalty count suggests otherwise. The injuries Richie  gets tell us there are plenty of players stomping on his hands, feet, head and any other body part they can, that's already disgusting so no need to suggest even more.

 Just-win, since I have started watching rugby I have never seen any player push the laws at the rucks like Mccaw.

Even NewZealand SuperXv teams get frustrated playing against him.

I suppose he is the type of player that if he is playing for you he is great, but public enemy when against you.

Maybe when he retires he could do one of those charity service type of jobs at the circus when you can throw fruit at people, or dunk them into water.  

Instead people could wear steel studs and step on his Mccaw's hands.

 Sharkbok: If he was playing for another country against the ABs it would be harder to admire him but I would still admire him.

George Smith is a great player but I get frustrated when he makes a great play that is on the margin of legality, especially when it effects the outcome of the game. The fact that both have received awards that involve votes from their peers tells us most players admire both.

 Just W there is nothing admirable about a serial cheat whoever he plays for. Given his antics on the field and his dalliance with the british madam and one can only wonder why he is a role model in nz. bwahahahahhaha

Time to sort our wee mcaaaaw as sharkbok is saying. 

Ha, ha Beeno1.  I see red cards for those who resort to foul play against any player.

not sure what you are talking about with this British madam. Do you have some kind of evidence? 

It’s every player’s objective to give his team the advantage.

At times breaking the law unnoticed wins the match for you. Other times it costs you a yellow and possibly a loss.

That’s the beauty of rugby.

Of course you gotta play the ref.

I certainly hope this game is never overly regulated. It will stuff it up as far as I’m concerned. The little off the ball stuff in a ruck adds to the character of the sport. It’s a tough physical encounter. That is how it was designed.   

I see the kiwi boys are all on bended knees praying to their king. It’s hilarious to read. Am I picking up a little uncertainty? Is his podgy midsection cause for alarm?

Looks a little more than 5kg boys. More like 10 – 15kg if you ask me.

Still it’s not a train smash. All he needs to do is put down the beer and cheese burgers … get himself some trainers and work it off.

Should be right as rain in about a month.