Super Rugby
McCaw's pain at playing on with broken rib
ESPN Staff
July 25, 2014
Richie McCaw is at blindside for the Crusaders on Saturday © Getty Images
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All Blacks flanker Richie McCaw has opened up on the pain he played through when he faced England with a broken rib.

McCaw broke his rib in the second Test in Dunedin but at the time, he thought he had just picked up some bruising. He played the third Test in Hamilton against England and it was then he realised something was amiss.

It is not the first time McCaw has played through the pain barrier as he ran out in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final with a broken bone in his foot.

"By the end of that third test I was pretty sore," McCaw told Fairfax Media. "With an injured foot it doesn't hurt when you go into contact - it is only when you are running. With the foot it didn't even enter my mind, to be honest, towards the end of that World Cup.

"But with the ribs I knew towards the end of the game it was going to cause me a couple of weeks being laid-up. I paid for it afterwards. I was pretty sore."

McCaw will play his first match on Saturday for the Crusaders since picking up the injury. He is adamant he is fit to face the Sharks in the semi-final and would have admitted to both his Crusaders coach Todd Blackadder and Steve Hansen ahead of the third Test had he not felt fit enough to play.

"If I was going out there and worried about going into contact I wouldn't have played," McCaw said. "I felt I could go out there and for the most parts of the game I did. As the game went on I got a few whacks and it got a bit worse. I wasn't hesitant about contact and felt it was a good decision to play."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd

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