However, one thing stands him apart from the rest – he is the only men’s player to victory two Rugby World Cups as captain. One of the greatest, if not the best, flankers to always play the game, McCaw achieved a single double in back-to-back events in 2011 and 2015 following two very dissimilar victories in the finals against France and Australia.
Rugby World Cup fans from all over the world are called to book RWC 2023 tickets from our online platform xchangetickets.com Rugby fans can book Wales vs Australia Tickets on our website at exclusively discounted prices.
Speaking to World Rugby while in London as part of the New Zealand allocation asked to attend King Charles III’s coronation, the memoirs of those encounters – that nerve-racking 8-7 win beside France on home ground and the first all-Oceania RWC final at Twickenham four years later – came flooding back to rugby’s own type of royalty.
The Twickenham final was McCaw’s 148th and final arrival in the All Blacks jersey and, fittingly for a player who liked a stellar 14-year test career, it ended in the uppermost of highs with a 34-17 win against Australia.
A final that had everything
You knew the last at a Rugby World Cup was also going to be very happy or very disappointing, no middle ground. It was a countless way to sign off, the three-time World Rugby Player of the Year (2006, 2009, and 2010) recalled.
The ending had a bit of everything. I think for the first half we played unresolved rugby and, again, like early on in the 2011 final against France, the display didn’t quite reproduce how on top we were. But then we counted early in the second half and I felt this could actually go our way.
At the very end, after we had the game under control once more, I was enjoying the moment because it was enjoyable and felt very different from four years earlier, as opposed to praying for it to end as I had done in 2011. At the conclusion of the tournament in 2015, I recall asking myself, “Why would you ever want this to stop?”
McCaw had already put his body through the wringer at that point when he was 34 years old, so there were no real considerations of delaying his retirement plans at that time.
The reality was it was never going to be the same after that because people were moving on and you just category know all the things you essential to do to get out on the pitch and play for the All Blacks at a Rugby World Cup involves a lot of stuff that was becoming a lot harder, he said.
Putting on that jersey before you run out, hearing the crowd when you run out, and sitting in the locker room afterward when you’ve finished the job are the moments I really miss.
But as soon as the first whistle blows and the first big tackle is made, you think, “Ooh, I’m really happy where I am right now!”
McCaw will be in Paris for the highly anticipated Rugby World Cup 2023 opening game between the hosts and the All Blacks and will return for the tournament’s closing phases, which he anticipates to have had more than its fair share of surprises. You can buy your France Rugby World Cup Tickets.
A tournament full of surprises
There have been major shock outcomes in each of the previous three tournaments. When the Tongans defeated France in Wellington in 2011, the town was painted red, but it was nothing compared to Japan’s triumph over South Africa in England in 2015—their first at a Rugby World Cup in 24 years. In 2019, Uruguay surprised everyone by defeating highly-favored Fiji.
McCaw imagines the trend to continue, in one-off games at least.
The good news is that all of those teams have a chance to go to the quarterfinals and inflict serious damage. And if you do achieve a few achievements along those lines, it might pave the way for someone else to make a little headway and gain more confidence that they can succeed. That, in my opinion, is what has made the buildup to this competition so intriguing.
The top two teams in the World Rugby Men’s Rankings powered by Capgemini right now are Ireland and France, and that might very well be true when the competition begins on September 8.
There has never been a better opportunity for another northern hemisphere nation to join the list of champions, twenty years after England won the Webb Ellis Cup.
Ireland will be extremely unhappy if they fail to advance past the quarterfinals for the first time after a historic 2-1 series victory over the All Blacks. Ireland matched France’s Six Nations Grand Slam from the previous season.
Similarly to this, France must fulfill their commitment and shed the stigma of being a bridesmaid after three unsuccessful appearances in the RWC finals.
For a few reasons, I’m really looking forward to that, McCaw remarked.
I think the race for victory is fairly open, putting aside my predisposition to wanting the All Blacks to succeed.
You are unsure of what might occur. So that’s one aspect of it, and I suppose from a New Zealand perspective, in the past you kind of always knew that if they could get it together they could go and finish the job, whereas after the previous year you sort of go, “jeepers, there is going to have to be some improvements to put the team in the right spot.”
I guess from a northern hemisphere point of opinion, Ireland has set the pace in the Six Nations and the French aren’t that far behind, so it makes it pretty fascinating, said one observer. There is no doubt that people consider the French and the Irish have got a pretty good chance of winning.”
It might be the year when Ireland finally succeeds in a Rugby World Cup, according to McCaw.
Where you are ranked in a World Cup truly doesn’t matter all that much, as we have learned through the years. But putting rankings aside, I saw the Irish play in three tests in New Zealand last year, and they have a really determined air about them that suggests they are on a mission.
It was quite incredible how they pulled the series win together, and they just recently did it again, so it should be fascinating.
Controlling expectations
In 2007, when France hosted the previous RWC, the pressure got to Les Bleus. It wasn’t until they left their home country and traveled to Cardiff for a crucial quarterfinal match against McCaw’s All Blacks that they were able to show their true selves.
That day, France overcame all odds to defeat the All Blacks 20-18 and put an end to their ambition for the next four years. The All Blacks Rugby World Cup victory in 2011 was marked more by relief than anything else, according to McCaw, who led the team in 110 tests. He says the All Blacks’ sorrow from that loss helped to set the stage for that victory.
We are offering Rugby World Cup Tickets Rugby admirers can get RWC 2023 World Cup Tickets through our trusted online ticketing marketplace. Xchange Tickets is the most reliable source to book France Rugby World Cup tickets. You can also Sell Rugby World Cup 2023 Tickets on our online platform.
