All Blacks skipper Richie McCaw has announced his retirement from professional rugby after 148 Tests and two Rugby World Cup triumphs.

McCaw made the announcement on Thursday afternoon (New Zealand time), confirming the 34-17 victory over the Wallabies in the World Cup final at Twickenham was his last outing in the famous black jersey.

New Zealand Rugby boss Steve Tew had only recently revealed McCaw would be granted a Super Rugby contract with the Crusaders for 2016 should he want it, but the 34-year-old back-rower put that speculation to rest in confirming his exit from the professional scene.

McCaw's announcement came just 24 hours after the tragic passing of fellow All Blacks great Jonah Lomu. 

"The reality is that I'm going to be hanging up my boots; the end of my rugby days," McCaw said after paying tribute to Lomu.

"So that's why I wanted to let people know that my last game for the All Blacks and as a professional rugby player was the World Cup final a few weeks ago…the end of something that's been a big part of my life."

McCaw had never fully confirmed 2015 would serve as his final professional season despite the overwhelming belief it would, and the most-capped player of all time explained why he had chosen to keep the door ajar -albeit slightly.

"I just wanted to share with you a little bit about how I came to my decision and why now," he added. "I guess I made no secret at the start of this year that this day was going to be probable, that this year would be my last.

"But deep down I suppose I didn't want to shut the door totally for probably two reasons. I didn't want to make it final because I was worried the emotion might get to me in a World Cup year; you know I might start thinking about 'last this, last that', and maybe whether I did all the things that I needed to do to play my best.

"So by leaving that door, even if it was only creaked open a little bit, it didn't feel final until perhaps right now - so that was one thing.

"And I knew with the World Cup, there's no in-betweens coming home; I was either going to be extremely happy or extremely disappointed. And had it gone the way of us getting beaten I wanted to make sure I did it right as the All Black captain; that I fronted as you would expect and not really sort of have a foot out the door.

"So I wanted to make sure that that was right and if it went the other way I wanted to enjoy being still an All Black and make it about the team and not about the individuals, and that's the way it happened. It's given me time to reflect and make sure that I have made the right decision.

"The last two weeks have given me the chance to reflect a bit and, I guess, I sit here today with no regrets about what I've done as a rugby player. That last game, to have that as the lasting memory of your last time on the pitch is pretty satisfying."

McCaw will now turn his attention to helicopters and a future as a professional pilot in Christchurch.

"I guess the question will be: what am I going to do from now? There are a couple of things I've got in mind and one that hasn't just sort of come about overnight; I learnt to fly helicopters in 2012, and it's something you might have seen over the last wee while - I've been doing a bit of that.

"And I've got an opportunity to be part of a helicopter business in Christchurch, so that's going to be my thing going forward; first of all becoming a professional pilot with them. It's something that I'm hugely passionate about and I know it will never replace the thrill of running out in front of 80,000.

"But some of the things I've got to experience so far with it, it's not far short of. So (I've got) a long list of sponsors commitments and stuff, I'm going to be reasonably busy. But that's, I guess, what I'm going to do, it's something that I'm passionate about and there's some good people involved. And I think that's the key with you do.

"So I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to do that."