Episode 2: Richie McCaw

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

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Rob Dunne (0:31)

Kia ora whanau, welcome to episode two of The All Blacks Podcast powered by SAP. Big week, it's test week and I'm seriously fizzed because the Irish are here.

Last time these two teams met, clashed back in Dublin, the Irish knocked us over 29 points to 20 So in preparation for the first test at Eden Park this weekend, we thought we'd talk to one of the great players of the All Black Jersey. Welcome to the studio, Richie McCaw.

Richie McCaw (0:54)

Thanks, mate. Yeah, it's good to be here.

Rob Dunne (0:56)

Mate, we got you up in the 09, we got you in the studio. What are you doing up in the big smoke today?

Richie McCaw (1:01)

Well, it's actually been up here for rugby things with obviously the Silver Lake deal with New Zealand Rugby got signed off just recently. Those guys are actually in town, so they're getting around meeting a few people. So I thought it was a good chance to obviously got a little bit involved over the last 12 months with the deal to meet the guys that are obviously part of the Silver Lake side, which has been great.

Rob Dunne (1:25)

Mate, it's awesome to have you involved in that. I think it's great as we sort of go into this new era rugby. Good fellows, are they? You know, they're pretty excited. I think you mentioned to me beforehand that they're rugby men and they're quite excited to get stuck into this project.

Richie McCaw (1:37)

Oh, absolutely.

Well, the lead fellow, Simon, is a Brit, so he loves his rugby. And yeah, I think they're just excited. You know, obviously, it's been a quite long process, but excited about what's ahead. So I think everyone should be excited.

Rob Dunne (1:51)

And they're involved in some amazing stuff, aren't they? Like around the world, they're involved in some pretty, you know, significant and pretty exciting projects. So hopefully there's a bunch of things they can bring to the table for us.

Richie McCaw (2:00)

I'm sure they will. And they'll challenge, you know, ways of doing things and looking to the future. I think that's the key is, you know, years down the track, what is it that we need to do as a game in New Zealand, right from, you know, the young kids playing through the professional game, how are we going to make it sustainable? And obviously money has a lot to do with that. And they'll have ideas that will be probably even thought of.

Rob Dunne (2:24)

Yeah, absolutely. Now, it's exciting times. And also, mate, team close to your heart, did you watch the Crusaders in the weekend? I know you were perhaps travelling at the time, but might have found a way to sneak it.

Richie McCaw (2:33)

Yeah, I was actually in Japan for a couple of days. And I managed to get to the airport before my flight, sat and watched in the lounge. And yeah, I think the reflections on it, the first thing is just the fact you had a full Eden Park, a lot of anticipation, not sure who was going to get the job done. And that excitement reminds me of the years that I was lucky enough to play in those games. And you know, but from a Crusaders point of view, she was a pretty clinical display.

They didn't give the Blues any room to wiggle, and yeah, got the job done.

Rob Dunne (3:12)

Yeah, it was, as we're talking about beforehand, I don't think the Crusaders had too many fans outside of their region. There was definitely a lot of people who wanted the Blues to win.

Richie McCaw (3:20)

I'd say everyone outside of the region, to be fair.

Rob Dunne (3:22)

Yeah, based on the Bay of Plenty there, I don't think any mates down there for that week. But like you say, geez, sort of that finals pedigree, I suppose, wasn't it? It seemed to be on the big occasion, like you say, full stadium at Eden Park, which was really exciting for the comp.

They very much got it right on the day.

Richie McCaw (3:39)

Yeah, I think there's a few big moments.

But certainly that try right on halftime, when they'd had a bit of pressure on going to the break, those sort of moments are pretty key. And the weather got a bit average as the game went on. And when you're playing catch up in that sort of weather, it's hard to get going.