New Zealand
Richie McCaw's All Blacks career by the numbers
Huw Richards
November 20, 2015
Milner-Skudder, Botha laud retiring McCaw

If Jonah Lomu revised the rules of rugby physics by subverting the assumption that size and power will be inversely related to speed and athleticism, Richie McCaw was the great rewriter of the game's record books. His extraordinary durability as both player and captain and his huge contribution to nearly 14 years of remorseless All Black excellence created some remarkable numbers. Here, in tribute to one of the great careers, are 20 of them:

0 -- Tries scored by McCaw in 25 matches against Ireland (14 including his debut) or Wales (11). Indeed he only scored three times in 48 matches against British and Irish opposition, well below his rate against Rugby Championship opposition. When you look (see 2 below) at his record against British and Irish teams, it is hard to escape the impression that he only scored when he really had to.

1 -- Other player named McCaw has appeared in test rugby. Bill, also a back rower and a South Islander, played for New Zealand five times between 1951 and 1954 and at 85 is now one of the oldest living All Blacks. Interviewed in 2003 he said he was already spending a fair amount of his time explaining that he was not related to Richie "I'd be pleased if I was. He's an excellent player", but a family connection has since been found.

2 -- Defeats in those 48 matches against British and Irish opposition, both against England and not far off a decade apart -- against Clive Woodward's future World Cup winners at Wellington in June 2003 and in what can now be seen as Stuart Lancaster's finest hour, at Twickenham in the autumn of 2012.

3 -- Yellow cards issued to McCaw in his 148 test matches, against Wales at Cardiff in 2006, Australia in Auckland in 2014 and Argentina at Wembley during the recent World Cup. New Zealand still won all three.

6 -- Matches for the All Blacks as a team-mate of New Zealand's other great (and much sadder) departed this week, Jonah Lomu. Perhaps the least surprising number in this entire article is that the All Blacks won the lot.

6 -- Victories over All Black teams including McCaw, a record jointly held by three Springboks, Bryan Habana, Victor Matfield and Jean de Villiers. Yet all three lost far more than they won, de Villiers getting to the mark quickest, in 17 matches.

Richie McCaw calls time
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11 -- Losing press conferences, every captain's least favourite chore, were all McCaw had to give in his 110 matches leading the All Blacks. Sergio Parisse (52 and counting) can only look on in envy.

11 -- Tries by McCaw against Australia. Given that nobody has ever scored more tries against one of the established rugby nations -- a record one might expect to be held by one of the great prolific try-scoring wingers -- this may be his most remarkable single number, but it is one he now only shares since Ma'a Nonu's brilliant long-range try in the World Cup final was also his 11th against the Wallabies.

Richie McCaw waves goodbye
Richie McCaw waves goodbye© Paul Gilham/Getty Images

14 -- Consecutive defeats suffered in matches against McCaw by Brian O'Driscoll, his predecessor as the world's most capped player and arguably his greatest European contemporary. He came closest to breaking this losing run in the first match, when Ireland led well into the second-half during McCaw's debut in 2001 and the last, when the All Blacks astonishing last-gasp score at Lansdowne Road in 2013 rescued both their all-time unbeaten record against the Irish and their 'perfect year'.

20 -- Wins over South Africa, more than any other player. McCaw also holds the all-time record for victories over Australia (29, the most by any player against one opponent) and Ireland (14).

21 -- Wins over teams containing Adam Ashley-Cooper, the most international victories ever by one international player over another. The Aussie winger also played more times (27) and scored more tries (8) against McCaw than anybody else.

34.4 -- Days on average between caps across the length of McCaw's international career. That's not far short of an international match every month for the best part of 14 years.

55 -- Years. Tthe space in time across which McCaw was channelling the spirit of legendary All Black forward Peter Jones when he told television interviewers he was 'completely shagged' after the World Cup final victory in 2011. Jones famously told a considerably more strait-laced nation that he was 'absolutely buggered' after his series-clinching try against the Springboks at the same Eden Park stadium in 1956.

78.57 -- Per cent winning record for the All Blacks in the 35 matches McCaw did not play between his debut at Lansdowne Road in November 2001 and the World Cup final last month. That's a performance most international teams would kill for, but still significantly below their 89.18 per cent mark when he was playing.

97 -- Wins in 110 matches as All Black captain. Only John Smit (54) and Brian O'Driscoll (52) have led even half as many winning international teams.

 
Of the 1082 players who lined up against McCaw in international matches, 889 never beat him at all.
 

131 -- Wins in international matches, a record which may stand for some time. All Black forwards Owen Franks (aged 27, 68 wins so far), Sam Whitelock (27, 65 wins) and Brodie Retallick (24, 43 wins) have a shot but will need to keep their places well into their thirties, and for the All Blacks to maintain their remorseless winning habit, to have any chance.

141 -- Starts in international matches. McCaw went on collecting records right to the end, since his start in the World Cup final took him past O'Driscoll (140).

148 -- International caps is an all-time mark likely to come under pressure earlier than the wins record. It may be asking too much of Sergio Parisse (aged 32, 114 caps) to go on defying both anno domini and Italy's relentless losses for another 35 matches, but Alun-Wyn Jones (30, 100 caps) could be thereabouts by the 2019 World Cup while Franks, Whitelock, Retallick, James Slipper (26, 74 caps) and Michael Hooper (24, 51 caps) are all longer-term threats.

155 -- Men played alongside McCaw for the All Blacks. Keven Mealamu (102) made most appearances, including 41 as a replacement. Daniel Carter (91) was the most frequent starter and Kieran Read (71) his main back row colleague.

1043 -- Players out of the 1082 who lined up against McCaw in international matches came out with losing records -- and of these 889 never beat him at all. Only 15 had winning records, and 12 of them played against him only once. The supreme McCaw-resister is Springbok back rower Heinrich Brussow with three wins and one defeat.

© Huw Richards

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