Richie McCaw: Joe Schmidt could be All Blacks boss

Few people understand what it takes to be a successful All Blacks coach more than Richie McCaw and the two-time World Cup-winning captain happens to believe that Joe Schmidt has exactly what it takes to do the job.

McCaw wore the famous silver fern jersey 148 times over the course of 15 seasons and he served four taskmasters — Wayne Smith, John Mitchell, Graham Henry and Steve Hansen — in that time, experiencing crushing lows as well as unforgettable highs.

His advocacy of Schmidt is unlikely to have been offered blithely.