Richie to rumble on

All Blacks skipper to continue with rampaging style

Last updated: 29th July 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Richie to rumble on

McCaw: Pushing the boundaries

How do I say it? What I think is right and what he (the ref) thinks is right could be different so you've got to figure it out pretty quickly. Each ref is a little bit different. I have a fairly good understanding of where they'll sit, just through experiences.

Richie McCaw
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Richie McCaw has no thoughts about changing his sometimes controversial style of play as he and his New Zealand team prepare to face Australia in the Tri-Nations on Saturday.

The All Blacks travel to Melbourne for the first Bledisloe Cup match against the Wallabies, with both teams enjoying opening wins over South Africa in the tournament.

McCaw admits that he pushes the boundaries of the law to the very limit with his all-action style of play and forcing turnovers at the breakdown.

However, he insists he will not be changing his ways any time soon and believes as long as he is not putting any undue pressure on his own team in terms of penalties, then he will not change a thing.

"If you go in gun shy you're not going to have an impact," McCaw said. "I think the big thing is to understand where you sit and what you're going to get away with and what you're not.

Pressure

"As long as you're not putting the team under heaps of pressure you've got to still be at the point of knowing what you can get away with and what you can't and the odd thing you might get wrong."

McCaw has been under increased scrutiny after the last Test against the Boks in Wellington, when he was warned three times by referee Alain Rolland but not yellow-carded.

South African fans were furious that McCaw appeared to have got away with murder, something McCaw said was simply not his problem.

"I think I gave away four penalties or it might have been five and there were a couple of them I was disappointed with."

"How do I say it? What I think is right and what he (the ref) thinks is right could be different so you've got to figure it out pretty quickly.

Right things

"I always think the things I'm trying to do are the right things and if he's penalising me for some reason I think 'geez I'm not going to get away with that today' or 'that's not going to work with this ref'.

"Each ref is a little bit different. I have a fairly good understanding of where they'll sit, just through experiences."

McCaw was also asked as to whether his position as captain affected the way referees handled him.

"I wouldn't have thought so. They pride themselves on making sure they call it the same way no matter who it is. There are times I get it the other way perhaps," continued McCaw.

"I do know what they are going to do and I always have a yarn in the shed before the game as to what they've seen previously or if they have got any concerns. Hopefully they'll tell me if they think I'm getting it all wrong."