Richie McCaw knows exactly what it takes to lead the All Blacks.<\/p>\n
The legendary openside flanker captained New Zealand to back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles and remains widely regarded as one of the greatest leaders the sport has ever seen.<\/p>\n
So when McCaw speaks about the current All Blacks skipper, Ardie Savea, rugby fans take notice.<\/p>\n
Far from offering criticism, the two-time World Cup winner has made it abundantly clear just how highly he rates the dynamic loose forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cI Love Watching Ardie Savea\u201d<\/p>\n
In an interview with\u00a0The Times, McCaw admitted Savea is one of the players he most enjoys watching in world rugby.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love watching the old dog Ardie Savea change the momentum of Tests with his game-breaking carries or jackals from the back row.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is high praise from a player who redefined the openside flanker role during his illustrious career.<\/p>\n
McCaw\u2019s comments underline what makes Savea so special. While the current captain may not play exactly like his predecessor, his ability to produce match-winning moments through powerful carries, relentless work at the breakdown and inspirational leadership has made him the heartbeat of the All Blacks.<\/p>\n
A Message From One Captain to Another<\/p>\n
When Savea was appointed All Blacks captain ahead of the 2026 season, McCaw reached out privately with some advice that was later shared publicly by New Zealand Rugby.<\/p>\n
His message read:<\/p>\n
\u201cMy advice, for what it\u2019s worth, is give it more than you ever have, which I know will be hard beyond belief. But if you do this you will never ever have any regrets.\u201d<\/p>\n
The message reflected McCaw\u2019s own approach to captaincy, where relentless commitment and leading by example became the foundations of one of the greatest eras in All Blacks history.<\/p>\n
All Blacks Handed NIGHTMARE Route to 2027 Rugby World Cup Final<\/p>\n
The All Blacks have been handed a potentially brutal route to the 2027 Rugby World Cup final after being drawn alongside hosts Australia in one of the tournament\u2019s toughest pools.<\/p>\n
With the competition expanding to 24 teams and introducing a Round of 16 for the first time, New Zealand can already map out their possible path to the Webb Ellis Cup \u2014 and it is packed with danger.<\/p>\n
Pool A: A Trans-Tasman Showdown<\/p>\n
New Zealand have been drawn in Pool A with Australia, creating one of the marquee clashes of the group stage. The All Blacks and Wallabies are expected to battle for top spot, with the pool winner earning a potentially more favourable route through the knockout stages.<\/p>\n
Under the tournament format, the top two teams from each pool automatically qualify for the Round of 16, while the four best third-placed teams across all pools also advance.<\/p>\n
For New Zealand, the objective will be simple: finish first in Pool A.<\/p>\n
Round of 16: A Third-Placed Opponent Awaits<\/p>\n
If the All Blacks top Pool A, they will face one of the tournament\u2019s best third-placed teams in the Round of 16.<\/p>\n
Based on the draw, that opponent would come from Pools C, E or F. Possible challengers could include:<\/p>\n
Samoa, USA or Japan (Pool E)<\/p>\n
Wales or Tonga (Pool F)<\/p>\n
One of the emerging contenders from Pool C<\/p>\n
On paper, this should represent a manageable first knockout assignment for New Zealand.<\/p>\n
CONTINUES ON PAGE TWO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Richie McCaw knows exactly what it takes to lead the All Blacks. The legendary openside flanker captained New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":546608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-546607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/546608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}