McCaw a master of the All-Black arts

HE’S a thief, a cheat, a master of skullduggery, a guy who does his best work in dark and hidden spaces, away from human eye.

He’s rugby’s openside flanker. His specialist area of operation is the breakdown, opposition ball his forte. !

Think Neil Back, George Smith and you have him, the prototype number seven. If you were starting a choir, one look at both and neither would make the cut. Richie McCaw, however — now there’s a guy. You sit down with this innocent-looking chap from Canterbury, chat and hey, he’d be front and centre, choirboy numero uno. Oh, how looks doth deceive!

Without question, McCaw comes into Rugby World Cup 2007 as the top-rated openside in the world. The All-Black captain has it all — just more than six foot, he doesn’t look at all like he’s carrying the 16st 9lb claimed for him in the media bio-pics, but his performances suggest otherwise. As a defender he hurts, as a linkman between pack and backs he has the pace and the soft hands, but it’s at the breakdown that he really excels. The bio mentions his cool head, quick hands; it says nothing about his mastery of the dark arts. Richie McCaw would be at home in Hogwarts (ask your kids).

This afternoon he will be in the Stade Velodrome in Marseille, doing unto Italy in New Zealand’s opening World Cup game what he has been doing for the All-Blacks since his debut against Ireland in Dublin in November 2001 (remember that one? Another honourable Irish defeat, second-half capitulation after a fine start). He’s ready. “It’s about time, really. The whole team is just itching to get on the field, there’s been so much build-up, so much talk over the last 12 months, to finally have it here and ready to go — guys are feeling good about things. We just have to channel that excitement in the right direction.”

Earlier this week, in a meeting in Paris ground rules were laid out to Graham Henry. Given how critical the breakdown area is Richie happy with the outcome of that meeting? “Yeah, I don’t think it’s going to be too dissimilar to what’s been the case this year, they’re going to do what they always do. It’s tough to referee but they say they’re going to be vigilant on how guys arrive at the breakdown, both in attack in defence.”

Carter won’t have things all his own way tomorrow. The Italian backrow, Zanni, Bergamasco, Parisse, is rated as good as any in the northern hemisphere, and while the New Zealand public will be expecting nothing less than an emphatic win here, Richie and his backrow team-mates are in for a battle. “Yeah, the Italian pack as a whole is good. They’ve got a reasonable lineout, scrum isn’t bad either, and that’s allowed their backs free to function well. They actually out-muscled the Irish last week — they’re a big challenge.”

All the pressure is truly on New Zealand; they’re hot favourites for the tournament, expected to easily qualify for the quarter-finals. Italy’s big game will be against Scotland, to decide who joins the All-Blacks at the top of this group. And yet, is there that much of a disparity between the teams? “No, we have a lot of respect for the Italians. Sometimes the team with the best players doesn’t turn out to be the best team in the tournament. If you’ve got some talent in the team, which we’ve got here, you’ve got to make sure you put your performances together.

“We’re against a reasonable Italian side but it doesn’t change our approach, just go out and have a good performance ourselves. If we do that, we’ll be happy,” he says.

Meanwhile, there was a last-minute double-blow for the All-Blacks after training yesterday, with the news that Conrad Smith, named to start at outside centre, has been withdrawn due a hamstring problem, while experienced second-row Reuben Thorne suffered a similar problem, and his place on the bench goes to Masoe.

The loss of Smith sees Mils Muliaina move from full-back to 13, with Leon McDonald coming in at full-back, his place on the bench taken by Isaia Toeava. Sounds very disruptive, but all very logical, according to coach Graham Henry. “Leon was already in the 22, and they trained that way (in this formation, Muliaina at outside centre) at the end of training on Thursday, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” said Henry, explaining his decision not to make a straight swap; Isaia Toeava for Smith.

Replacing like with like then, more or less. The same can’t be said of Masoe and Thorne, however. Masoe is in fact a loose forward, with nowhere near the experience of the giant Thorne. Expecting him to cover for second-row is a bit much, and Sione Lauaki will now take over that role. “Rodney So’oialo and Sione Lauaki will cover lock, if necessary,” said Henry.