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John GriffithsOctober 2, 2014
Who are the top 10 All Blacks by match appearances? John Harvey, England
Richie McCaw will pass Colin Meads and become the leading All Black of all time when he skippers the side against South Africa in Johannesburg in the final match of this year's Rugby Championship on October 4.
The current New Zealand skipper will make his 134th appearance in an official All Black match (ie Tests and touring games). Meads, who played his last match for the All Blacks in 1971, has held the appearance record since overtaking Don Clarke (89 appearances) in the opening match of the 1967 All Blacks tour to Britain and France.
The leading All Blacks (all matches) at October 2014 1 were:
Colin Meads - 133
Richie McCaw - 133
Sean Fitzpatrick - 128
Keven Mealamu - 119
Andy Haden - 117
Ian Kirkpatrick - 113
Bryan Williams - 113
Tony Woodcock - 110
Ian Jones - 105
Bruce Robertson - 102
Mils Muliaina - 102
John Griffiths is a widely respected rugby historian and is the author of several sports books, a regular contributor to the Daily Telegraph and co-author of the IRB International Rugby Yearbook. He has provided insight for Scrum.com since 1999.
