All Black qualities we must work on

Richie McCaw: His men can deal with the big occasions.

I find it hard to believe it’s over 40 years since I first saw New Zealand play in the flesh. Even then they enjoyed an aura shared by no other team, even if they had lost a series to the Lions for the first time only two years earlier.

That was back in January 1973 when we got a half day from school to go to Musgrave Park and see the famous All Blacks up close. In a repeat of last Sunday, Munster were within two minutes of creating history, but a Trevor Morris penalty at the death secured a 3-3 draw for the tourists and saved their blushes. Next time I watched them live? Thomond Park, October 31st 1978.