Richie McCaw puts New Zealand result before record cap ahead of Bledisloe Cup decider
Friday 14 August 2015 12:02, UK
Richie McCaw says his imminent world record is not on his mind at all as New Zealand fight to retain the Bledisloe Cup.
The All Blacks captain will surpass Brian O'Driscoll's mark of 141 Test caps when he lines up against Australia at Eden Park on Saturday.
The destination of the Bledisloe Cup will be decided either way in Auckland, where New Zealand must avenge last week's defeat to keep the trophy they have held since 2003.
And McCaw insists that is his sole priority heading into the second and final game of a shortened series.
He said: "One thing I haven't allowed is to get caught up in that because I really wanted to train as well as I could to play well on Saturday.
"When you have that focus you don't get caught up in those what-might-bes. I want to enjoy playing here and when you have a loss like last week it makes you want to play even more.
"The key is to let it fuel you, obviously, coming off a poor performance but just that in itself isn't going to make it work. We have to do things right this week and I think we have to this point."
The New Zealanders have made no attempt to sugar-coat their performance in Sydney, where Australia won 27-19.
Full-back Ben Smith said: "We've had a good review, and looked at ways to get better.
"As players a big thing for us is doing our analysis, and taking on the coaches' feedback so we really look at our own performance and make sure we are making the right strides as far as adapting and learning from the last match.
"If we want to improve then sometimes we've just got to use our instincts to see what's in front of us and just play rugby really. It's a pretty simple thing."
Watch the Bledisloe Cup decider live on Sky Sports 3 from 8am on Saturday.
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