Saffers love and admire Sir Richie McCaw

Outwardly they curse him and moan and groan about him BUT DEEP INSIDE THEIR DEEPEST DARKEST HEARTS they love and admire him because he epitomises that brave rascal type of spirit that ALL men aspire to.

Strong protests and  Denials from all Saffers expected to roll in right about NOW..............

 Hakwa...put the drugs down old boy.

Richie McFag...Caw can only hope and dream of being a real man,n boer!!!

He is as soft and meak like all Nzl men.A day at the nail bar for Hakwa and friends.

Richie's legand (& source of irritation for the weeee Bok supporters) will live on long after he is retired. Another high standard to he has set, lol

And when he finally retires you guys are going to have to find another excuse for your losses. Or is it possible you will become good sports - how likely is that?

All in good fun, we have sympathy for the poor frustrated bok fans

Hakwa

At least a year before McCaw was selected to the AB team I wrote on another discussion programme that  he is the one standout player that will make waves  in future,   The response from the New Zealand members at the time was that I must be joking.

He really became a great player and learned and applied his trade extremely well.   He provably was at the peak of his performances during the period 2009 to 2011.   Since then his performances declined noticeably,

After his return from his sabbatical it was clear that he is in the declining stage of his career and the question really start to raise its head over whether he still is the best openside flank in New Zealand.  

I think his presence in the team may influence his team mates to keep their game on top level - but his personal performances are way below what it used to be.  He had a reasonable game against the Chiefs - not outstanding, but solid.   However, his performance on Friday was seriously defective and if that is the way it is going to be in future - he is not going to be an asset for the Crusaders and the  AB's in future.

This being said - it does not take away from him having been a great in the past - but personally I think it is time to move on.               

Mozart

You are talking KAK in this case - sad to say.    

Forever clueless; Well looks like we have another little boy trying to show he is a "real man" by being sexist & ignorant. 

It has  all been done before & is really old. Why don't you go & show your latest crayon drawings to your mother if you want some attention.

Outwardly they curse him and moan and groan about him BUT DEEP INSIDE THEIR DEEPEST DARKEST HEARTS they love and admire him because he epitomises that brave rascal type of spirit that ALL men aspire to.

Strong protests and Denials from all Saffers Kiwis expected to roll in right about NOW..............

3ku1

Unfortunately the term  "form is temporary, class is permanent" is often abused to justify the retention of players way past their prime.  I compared McCaw's form in the 2012 Soweto test and in the 2013 Ellis Park test and was not really impressed - he was considerably poorer in 2013 than he was in 2012.  

Unfortunately the same decline in performance was noticeable in the EOYT - and is now also evident in the two matches in Super 15 this year.   The signs are not promising.  

McCaw is on the wrong side of 30 - where declining performances goes on inevitably and it would be a major surprise and highly unlikely if he recovers his form.   He may look better in some games - but on the whole there will be the downeard trend associated with advancing years.          

Denny: yes I agree. Fortunately there are very few on this forum, most of us behave ourselves most of the time