Richie McCaw Captaincy Era

Lore & Background

The team's first match took place in 1884 in New South Wales and their first international test match in 1903 against Australia in Sydney. The following year New Zealand hosted their first home test, a match against a British Isles side in Wellington. There followed a 34–game tour of Europe and North America in 1905 (which included five test matches), where New Zealand suffered only one defeat: their first test loss, against Wales. The team perform a haka before every match. Traditionally the All Blacks use Te Rauparaha's haka Ka Mate, although players have also performed Kapa o Pango since 2005.

In Their Own Story

The rain lashed against the pitch at Eden Park, turning the grass into a quagmire of mud and desperation. The clock ticked past eighty minutes, but in Richie's mind, time had stopped. His lungs burned with the effort of another tackle, his boots sinking deep into the wet earth. Around him, the crowd roared, a deafening wall of sound that vibrated through the soles of his feet. He looked up, seeing the scrum-half signal for a quick tap. There was no hesitation, only the instinct honed over fifteen years. He grabbed the ball, not to run, but to offload, trusting the man beside him implicitly. In that split second of chaos, amidst the sweat and the mud, there was a profound silence in his focus. This was what it meant to wear the black jersey. Not just to play, but to endure.

Reader's Guide

The All Blacks compete with Argentina, Australia and South Africa in the Rugby Championship, and have won the trophy twenty times in the competition's thirty–year history. The team has completed a Grand Slam tour against the four Home Nations four times (1978, 2005, 2008 and 2010). World Rugby has named New Zealand the World Rugby Team of the Year ten times since the award was initiated in 2001, and an All Black has won the World Rugby Player of the Year award ten times over the same period. Nineteen former All Blacks have been inducted into the World Rugby Hall Of Fame.

Did You Know?

• The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987, 2011, and 2015.
• They were the first country to retain the Rugby World Cup.
• Since their international debut in 1903, the All Blacks have played test matches against 19 nations, of which 13 have never won a game against the team.
• New Zealand has a 76% winning record in test match rugby, and has recorded more wins than losses against every international opponent.
• Since the introduction of the World Rugby Rankings in 2003, New Zealand has held the number-one ranking longer than all other teams combined.