Rugby:New Zealand captain Richie McCaw has warned the four home nations that his All Blacks side have no intention of resting on their laurels when they head to Ireland and Britain next month.
McCaw’s men have won their last 15 tests and completed a clean sweep of six wins on their way to a 10th Tri Nations title earlier this year, playing a fluent high tempo multi-phase game that proved too strong for traditional foes South Africa and Australia to match.
The Kiwis will face their trans-Tasman rivals in Hong Kong this weekend before heading for these shores and tests against England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.
Despite their success, openside flanker McCaw says the touring party are looking to lift their game another level as their preparations for next year’s World Cup on home soil begin in earnest.
“When we were here four years ago, again a year before a World Cup, we had a good tour,” said McCaw. “We played some of our best rugby in that four-year period on that tour, but we have to improve on that this tour and not fall into the trap of thinking that what we are doing now is going to be good enough for next year. It’s about being able to pick it up and push on.”
While the All Blacks have been world rugby’s dominant force for much of the last quarter of a century, they have developed a reputation for choking on the game’s biggest stage, the World Cup. By the time they host next year’s global showpiece, 24 years will have passed since their 1987 triumph, which also came on home soil.
But McCaw, the current world player of the year, says previous failures will not define how New Zealand approach the tournament.
“We have a World Cup at home but if you go into it thinking about what has happened before you won’t enjoy it,” said the Canterbrian. “It is exciting to play in a World Cup and it will be even more exciting to do so at home. Every team there will have pressure and it’s about coping with that weight on your shoulders.
“If you look at our squad, plenty of guys have already been to one or two World Cups. It comes down to attitude in the knockout stages, you’re leaving it to chance if you are going to turn up and see how it goes.”
The main talking point of Henry’s tour squad announcement was the inclusion of former Canterbury Bulldogs rugby league star Sonny Bill Williams, who is named in an All Blacks’ squad for the first time after returning to his homeland with Canterbury following an impressive spell with Toulon in France.
And McCaw is looking forward to seeing how his new provincial and international colleague gets on.
“I have seen him at Canterbury and he has fitted in well,” said McCaw. “He is humble, he wants to learn and he has some real ability with his offloading and he is different from some of the other guys in the squad. It will be exciting to see how he does and if he can step up to Test level.”