Richie McCaw breaks silence on decision to reject knighthood honour

“When I first became an All Black he was in the team. To play alongside a guy you had watched as a young fella was pretty amazing. He made me look silly in training more than once.
He’s one of the absolute superstars of rugby. If you go somewhere rugby isn’t well known, the one guy they do know is Jonah.”

“He’ll go down as one of the greats of world rugby.”
From his legendary 2003 World Cup-winning drop goal to his relentless preparation, Wilkinson earned universal respect — including from McCaw.

“There are a lot of good players, but the guys who did it for a long time — and that I’ve been lucky to play with — is Dan Carter. In the final, he was sensational and he’s been great for a long time.”
Few players embodied consistency and class like Carter.

“He’s been on the same team as me since I was 18. We played in age grade together.”
Woodcock’s try in the 2011 Rugby World Cup final sealed his place in All Black folklore.

“Extremely gifted player who had all the ability in the world to play and run the ball. When England needed someone to dig in, he was your man. He had the full tool bag and quietly got on with it.”

“You can come up against another tough team but never feel like you’ve had a tough match against your opposite. But with Burger, you knew where he’d be and how hard he’d play near the ball.”
High praise from the toughest man in the game.

“He was always pretty tough.”
In multiple interviews, McCaw admitted Smith was the one player he truly feared

 on the field — the ultimate compliment from the best flanker in history.