Richie McCaw

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Richie McCaw
Personal information
Full name	Richard Hugh McCaw
Date of birth	December 31, 1980 (1980-12-31) (age 28)
Place of birth	Oamaru, Otago, New Zealand
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)
Weight	106 kg (16 st 10 lb)
Nickname	Richie[1]
School	Otago Boys' High School
University	Lincoln University
Occupation(s)	Professional rugby union footballer
Rugby union career
Playing career
Position	Openside flanker/ Number 8
New Zealand No.	1014
Provincial/State sides		Caps	(points)
1999-present	Canterbury	31	(45)
correct as of 28 September, 2009.
Super Rugby
2001-present	Crusaders	91	(110)22t
Current local club:	Christchurch
correct as of 28 September, 2009.
National team(s)
2001-present	New Zealand	80	(80)
correct as of 29 November, 2009.

Richard Hugh "Richie" McCaw (born 31 December 1980 in Oamaru, North Otago) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays in the openside flanker position and is the current captain of New Zealand. McCaw also represents Canterbury in the Air New Zealand Cup (formerly the National Provincial Championship, or NPC) and the Crusaders in the Super 14.

Career and Achievements

A tireless worker who reads the game well, McCaw was voted as Newcomer of the Year by the International Rugby Players Association in 2002. He had an outstanding 2003 Rugby World Cup despite New Zealand's semi-final exit and won the New Zealand player of the year award at the 2003 and 2006 Steinlager Rugby Awards. McCaw was sidelined for the middle part of 2004 with a head injury, but came back mid-way through the Air New Zealand NPC to captain the Canterbury side to a stunning final victory over Wellington. He earned the Air New Zealand NPC Division One Player of the Year for his effort. He was awarded the IRB International Player of the Year award in 2006 after being a finalist in both the International Rugby Players Association and IRB awards in 2003 and again for the IRB in 2005. McCaw led Canterbury to the NPC title in 2004 and then took the Crusaders to back-to-back Super 14 titles in 2005 and 2006 before assuming command of the national team. In 2008, the Crusaders were once again victorious under McCaw's command. In November 2009, McCaw was named the 2009 IRB Player of the Year.^[2] He was the first player to win the award twice. On December 17th 2009, McCaw became the first person to win the New Zealand Player of the Year award three times.

Achievements

• 2001 Under 21 Player of the year

• 2002 NPC Division One Player of the Year

• 2003 Kelvin Tremain Memorial Trophy for Player of the Year

• 2004 NPC Division One Player of the Year

• 2006 Kelvin Tremain Memorial Trophy for Player of the Year and Captain of New Zealand National Rugby Union Team

• 2006 IRB Player of the Year

• 2009 IRB Player of the Year

• 2009 Kelvin Tremain Memorial Trophy for Player of the Year

References

Notes

SA Sports Illustrated. "My Hero: Four All Black rugby players reveal their sport heroes." October 2008: 35.

External links

• Richie McCaw at AllBlacks.com
• "McCaw extends NZRU contract until the end of 2011". allblacks.com. 2008-06-08. http://www.allblacks.com/index.cfm?layout=displayNews&newsArticle=8116. Retrieved 2008-06-09. 
• Profile at Canterbury RFU official site
• Statistics itsrugby.co.uk
• All Blacks profile
• SARugby.com Player Profile

Awards
Preceded by Daniel Carter	IRB International Player of the Year 2006	Succeeded by Bryan Habana
Preceded by Shane Williams	IRB International Player of the Year 2009	Incumbent
Rugby Union Captain
Preceded by Tana Umaga	All Blacks Captain 2006-present	Incumbent