New Zealand Rugby

It has been one heck of a week for rugby fans in the southern New Zealand province of Otago. After claiming the Ranfurly Shield for the first time since 1957, the province has well and truly caught a dosage of Shield Fever, with anyone and everyone wanting to join in on the celebrations.

Last Friday night's 26-19 win over Waikato might mean more to Otago than most other regions, simply by virtue of the numerous close calls in Shield Challenges over the years. To finally win one has left the province in a state of euphoria that it has not experienced since the team won the NPC in 1998.

Everyone in Otago has their Shield heartbreak story. Perhaps the most common one is that of the 1994 challenge against Canterbury, where after comprehensively beating their archrivals earlier in the season, Otago went on to lose the challenge 22-20 following a late Canterbury penalty goal.

Younger fans may remember the heartache of the 2000 and 2002 challenges (both against Canterbury and both last-minute losses) as well as the 2010 challenge against Southland and the controversial Jamie Mackintosh try.

Older fans will recall close calls—as well as a few drubbings—of earlier years. 

Fifty-six years is a long time between drinks: The longer the wait, the worse it got, and the more close calls, the harder it became to take and the more the province wanted it.

It's amazing how quickly the wounds have healed.

In many ways it is amazing that this team was the one to do it. When one looks back at the number of great Otago teams to have failed in their attempts to win the Shield, there was little to suggest that this team would be any different. In fact, put in a head-to-head match there is no doubt that the teams of the 1990s and early 2000s would have put 50 points on this current crop.

But Shield games are funny things and they brought out the best of this young group of Otago players, who rightly received a heroes' welcome home after a gutsy display.

Over the past week, the Shield has been all over the province, from the bars in Dunedin on Saturday night through to the small townships and rural countryside of South and Central Otago. Everyone has had a chance to hold or at least get a glimpse of what eluded them for so long.

Perhaps it's a New Zealand thing, or maybe it's just an Otago thing, but winning the Shield just means so much to the people. To put it into perspective for an international audience, it is like winning the World Cup, only more important to many.

Even if it is lost this weekend against Hawkes Bay, the win will still rate as one of the greatest in Otago rugby history. The point was to see Otago win the Shield. Now that they have done it, anything else is a bonus.

In an age preoccupied with professionalism, World Cups and media spectacles, it is good to see that the passion for the game at the provincial level hasn't been lost entirely.

The magic of the Ranfurly Shield lingers on and allows the trophy to remain arguably the most important to New Zealand rugby fans. Long may it continue.

Hot on the heels of our recent interview with the International Rugby Board's (IRB) Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Martin Raftery, we are pleased to bring you the final installment of our Bleacher Report series on player welfare in rugby.

To read Part One of the series, click here.

To read Part Two of the series, click here.

To read Part Three of the series, click here.

In Part Two, we brought you word that the latest attempt to conduct investigative research into long-term brain injuries in rugby was encountering difficulties. Despite locating the study in the Aukland University of Technology (AUT), in New Zealand, researchers have been unable to find enough willing participants to move forward with their work.

During our talk with Dr. Raftery, he made these comments about the study: 

We selected New Zealand because everyone there follows rugby.  We thought it would be easy to collect volunteers there.

Its unclear whether people are not participating because their worried about what they might find, or because they just don’t think there’s a problem.

We have made inroads recently but it remains difficult.  To be honest, we just don’t know why we’re not getting volunteers.

The lead on-site researcher at AUT, Dr. Patria Hume, seemed slightly more certain she knew the reason, in an interview published by the New Zealand Herald.

There seems to be awareness of the study, but we've had trouble getting people to contribute.

Someone said to me 'I really don't want to know how my health is', which is fine, they don't have to know the results if they don't want them. Just fill in the questionnaire so that we know them.

Taken in combination with recent comments made by Rory Lamont and others, such reports speak volumes about the stigma and avoidance that typify the topic of brain injury within the sport of rugby.

Despite numerous attempts, it proved difficult to find players at the elite level who were willing to speak on the record about why concussion, CTE and player welfare remain such taboo subjects within the game.

But the questions loom larger than ever.

Why was Australian international George Smith allowed to return to the field after being knocked cold during the recent Lions Tour?  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjM738x4rSQ

Why, in a nation that lives and breathes rugby, is it so difficult to find a few hundred volunteers to complete a relatively small study on this issue?

How serious is the urge within modern day players to avoid such subjects, and can anything be done to correct it?

For some perspective, we spoke with Jay Fraga, a retired athlete and founder of The Knockout Project, a foundation created to raise awareness about brain trauma within elite sports.

Spreading the Word

Jay Fraga was an bike racer who was forced from his sport following repeated head injuries. He understands the mindset of invincibility that many pro athletes have.

I was always a "mind over matter" athlete. I feel like anyone who is very good at what they do athletically has a superior mindset. That mindset is of the highest importance to compete at a high level.  Elite athletes believe that they are faster, better, and stronger than their opponent. That is the greatest gift that an athlete can have when it comes to competition. It is also the single biggest flaw that one can have when it comes to acknowledging head injuries. 

I know that with my own head injuries, as well as those of many of my friends, our mindsets effectively allowed us to gloss over details that were incredible warning signs. Physical symptoms such as blurred vision, headaches, and nausea were dismissed as any number of things. Obvious cognitive symptoms, such as not knowing what year it was after a crash, were shaken off as cobwebs that would pass and not as a troubling sign that my brain was reeling from trauma. 

Such stories have surely been replicated hundreds of times over on rugby pitches, at both the amateur and elite levels. These stories focus on a factor not discussed in our previous reports: the willful choice made by athletes to ignore or dismiss serious warning signs.

New Zealand's Conrad Smith is one player who has suffered repeated concussions, and yet continues to play the game at the highest levels on an almost weekly basis.

Why do such players continue to hurry themselves back on to the pitch, sometimes—as with the recent George Smith incident—even within the same game?

Mr. Fraga believes he knows the answer.

Today, the majority of my friends who compete at a high level treat even the mention of concussions as taboo.

I believe they do it because it represents a threat to their confidence. All of us understand that confidence is paramount. The concept of any kind of injury, much less an invisible neurological one, is competitive poison for someone who has an objective of winning in sports.

So, they shut it out.

If you're talking about it, they avoid you.

I think this problem is universal to sports of any kind. If you translate the above to a sport where there is a lot of money or national pride at stake, that makes that concept even more potent. You also run into an issue where discussion of concussion is a threat to a player losing competition. We all love our sports, whether we get paid to do them or not. The threat of your sport being taken away from you is a powerful motivator to remain silent.

in my case, I only began to start seeking answers once it was clear that I had crossed a very distinct line. The symptoms were so bad that they couldn't be ignored. 

That silence is becoming more and more recognizable within the rugby community. Whether it is money, pride or team loyalty, rugby players across the globe continue to struggle with prioritizing their long-term mental health over the immediate concerns of performing on the pitch.

Our series has endeavored to touch on all sides of this incredibly important topic in rugby, but as we draw it to a close one fact remains inescapable.

The individuals most able to intervene to protect their long-term health are the players themselves.

Across the United States enrollment numbers for youth football are dropping, but it is within the rugby community's power to avoid such a fate.

Those who are attempting to shed light on this problem must continue to drive forward their message, even in places where such issues remain in a state of All Black.

Jeff Hull is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report.

Unless otherwise stated, all material was obtained first-hand.

To follow the author on Twitter, click on the link below.

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New Zealand will expect to keep alive their perfect record in the Rugby Championship when they host Australia in Wellington in the second round of the 2013 tournament on Saturday.

The All Blacks won all six of their games in the first edition of the Rugby Championship last year and opened their 2013 account with a comfortable 47-29 victory over the Wallabies in Sydney last week. 

Steve Hansen's side have won four from four this season and are firm favorites to record another victory ahead of the visits of Argentina and South Africa to New Zealand. 

The Wallabies, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after two heavy defeats—they also went down 41-16 to the British & Irish Lions—and put themselves properly in contention for a shot at the Rugby Championship title. 

Australia keep faith with all five debutants last week as they look to continue their rebuilding process. But a very clear message has been sent out by Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie that they must produce this time round, or else. 

These two rivals know each other very well, and although the All Blacks go into the match with a far-superior recent record, Australia will be confident of upsetting the odds if they can gain an edge in the following battles:

Tom Taylor vs. Matt Toomua 

Following injuries to Dan Carter, Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett, New Zealand have named fourth-choice fly-half Tom Taylor in the starting lineup. 

Uncapped Taylor goes up against Matt Toomua, who last week made his debut for the Wallabies and has been given another chance despite the heavy defeat. 

That defeat cannot be blamed on Toomua, but he will need to show more evidence of controlling the game and getting his back line working if he is to stay ahead of Quade Cooper for the No. 10 jersey. 

The All Blacks may be down on their luck in terms of fly-half resources, but such is the pedigree of their replacements that Taylor will more than likely slip seamlessly into the role. 

Much will depend on the quality of ball both half-backs receive from their forwards, but it looks more likely that Taylor will get the better ride and have more chance to show off his talents and steer the All Blacks to another victory.

Richie McCaw vs. Michael Hooper 

Australia's young openside Michael Hooper was one of the few Wallabies successes in Sydney and was prominent in setting up skipper Will Genia for his individual try. 

Despite his efforts the Wallabies were unable to present quick ball to their inexperienced back line, and Hooper will have to be even quicker and effective at the breakdown this week. He also will hope new blindside partner Scott Fardy proves more effective at clearing out. 

The trouble for Hooper is that he is again facing a certain Richie McCaw. The All Blacks skipper showed no signs of his six-month sabbatical as he made his first international start for nine months last week. 

McCaw produced a typically effective display in the loose and marked his return with one of the All Blacks' six tries. The veteran appears to have lost none of his pace and renowned skills, and he will again be supported by the outstanding Kieran Read and Steven Luatua. 

Expect another tight battle between these two opensides but for the All Blacks skipper to again get the edge thanks to the support of this pack.

Aaron Smith vs. Will Genia 

Both scrum-halves had their problems with the new engagement rules introduced last week, but Aaron Smith overshadowed his more illustrious opponent and certainly had more impact on the game, despite Genia's try. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0lKb4Tl8X0

The All Blacks were all-round much slicker and efficient in everything they did, and that included the snipping and service of Smith. 

But Genia is a class operator, and it is unlikely he will be outplayed again. The Wallabies are nothing if not fast learners, and Coach McKenzie will have had them working flat-out on the parts of their game that did not go well. 

Like Genia in Sydney, Smith this week will have a debutant in Taylor to help guide through the game, and this inevitably will have some impact. Genia will look to expose this new combination, with he and Toomua lookign to impose themselves more on the outcome.

Front-Row Battle 

Neither side managed to get much of an edge in the front row last week, despite the Wallabies' well-publicized failings in this department. 

The new engagement laws may have had something to do with that, but they have had a week to work on whatever lessons they picked up last week, and this battle could have more bearing on the result. 

Some suspected the new laws would help the Wallabies front row of Ben Alexander, Stephen Moore and James Slipper, who collectively have had a tough time of late. 

They achieved parity last week but can expect a sterner test from Owen Franks, Andrew Hore and Tony Woodcock, who wins his 100th cap in Wellington.

Either Tom Taylor or Colin Slade appears set to start for the All Blacks at first five-eighth in their second Bledisloe Cup Test against the Wallabies this weekend, as reported by Stuff.

This comes after injuries to Daniel Carter, Aaron Cruden and Beauden Barrett, leaving New Zealand having to examine their depth and call on their fourth and fifth string No. 10s.

The situation isn't entirely new for the All Blacks. They faced with the same scenario at the 2011 Rugby World Cup and were forced to call on their fourth-choice in the final after a series of injuries throughout the tournament.

So the alarm bells haven't quite started ringing. New Zealand got by on that occasion, and there is certainly more depth in the position now than there was two years ago.

So should Taylor or Slade get the nod to start? Both have strengths and weaknesses, and at the time of writing the coaching staff have kept their cards close to their chest.

Slade is more experienced, having had stints with the All Blacks in 2010 and 2011 when he was included in the World Cup squad. But he has not performed consistently in the black jersey and has only showed flashes of brilliance.

Injuries have played a big part. Slade is very much a confidence player and he simply has not had enough time on the field in recent years to get comfortable in his pivotal role.

When playing with confidence, he is an extremely dangerous runner, capable of taking the line on strongly and giving his midfield ball at the gain-line. His kicking game is very good off both feet, for distance and tactically.

In defence he is strong too. He is not quite in the class of Carter but he will not shy away from contact.

There is also the bonus of Slade having played outside Aaron Smith and inside Ma'a Nonu at the Highlanders, so forming new combinations would not be an issue.

Towards the end of the season Slade was a key player for the Highlanders and found a vein of form that had been missing for a number of years.

However, on an off-day Slade tends simply to shovel the ball on to his second five-eighth. He does not attack the line, he kicks inaccurately and he can be weak in defence.

If this Slade turns up, it would be an uphill battle for the All Blacks. If a confident Slade turns up they would be tough to stop. It comes down to whether the All Blacks' coaches want to take a chance.

The other option is the ever-improving Taylor, who has come on leaps and bounds over the past two seasons but has yet to make his All Blacks debut.

Taylor is solid in defence and distributes well. He is growing into a more dangerous runner which makes him a threat with ball in hand, rather than just tidy.

Perhaps his biggest attribute is goal kicking, and he is considered the best in New Zealand alongside Otago and Highlanders' Hayden Parker. His accuracy was outstanding in last year's ITM Cup and he was reliable kicking for the Crusaders in Carter's absence this year.

Taylor's lack of experience may worry some, but he is destined for greater things and is intelligent enough to cope with a faster game. 

The big difference is Taylor's consistency, particularly his goal kicking, which is why he should get the nod.

But Slade is a reasonable option too. The Wallabies are having their own problems in the position and either man would be warmly welcomed into their ranks. 

Earlier in the buildup to this 2013 Rugby Championship opening game, fans were savoring the prospect of Australian maverick Quade Cooper facing New Zealand star Dan Carter. 

But the returning bad boy against the proven skills of an All Black legend is a matchup we must continue waiting for because Carter is out with a calf injury and Cooper is named on the bench.

Instead, new Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie has handed a debut cap to Brumbies Matt Toomua while Aaron Cruden of Waikato Chiefs replaces Carter.

This is just one of the areas where the game will be won or lost. 

Cruden vs. Toomua at No. 10

These two know each other well from their Super 15 encounters and their relative performances will have a significant impact on the outcome.

Cruden is enjoying the best season of his career, and already this year has guided the All Blacks to two victories over France and a Super 15 title, outplaying Carter in the semifinal.

All Blacks coach Steve Hansen certainly has no worries over his No. 10, as reported by Fairfax News on Stuff.co.nz:

We are really fortunate that we have more than one world class five eighth," All Blacks coach Steve Hansen said.

Aaron has been on top of his game all season and has just going through two major [Super Rugby] matches with a lot of intensity and pressure.

He's ready to rumble and he's also played a couple of tests this year so he understands what we're trying to do. He's part of the leadership group so it's business as usual.

Toomua has a more structured approach than Cruden (and Cooper), but McKenzie has suggested he will have a more attacking role for the Wallabies, as reported by Jamie Pandaram of the Herald Sun.

You guys have seen Matt play for the Brumbies, but we’ve done different things in training and seen other things, that’s all I’ll say.

We’ve said how we want to play the game, I’ve been impressed with what he can contribute.

We’re not going to play Brumbies rugby, we’re not going to play Reds rugby, we’ll see.

McKenzie is a canny operator so we should expect the unexpected, but Australia will need Toomua to play with the assurance that helped the Brumbies reach the Super 15 final if the Wallabies are to bounce back from the record 41-16 hammering by the British and Irish Lions in their last outing.

The pressure is on the 23-year-old debutant, especially as Cruden has already shown what he can do in an All Blacks jersey.

Front Row Battle

The much-documented failings of the Wallabies in the final Test with the Lions will also likely decide the outcome of this clash between two long-standing rivals.

Australia's front five, and especially their front row, were found wanting against a Lions pack that out-powered their rivals, especially at the scrum. 

Stephen Moore and Ben Alexander return from that defeat, and with James Slipper they must ensure that the Wallabies pack is at least competitive in the scrum. They must provide a solid platform so their back line has the opportunity to show what they can do.

The Wallabies have a knack of disguising their front-row failings against Southern Hemisphere opposition, particularly when referees from that part of the world are in charge. But the highly experienced All Blacks trio Tony Woodcock, Andrew Hore and Owen Franks will certainly look to expose similar weaknesses.

But the introduction of a new scrum ruling, which is being trialled in this year's Rugby Championship, could favour the Wallabies.

Instead of the now familiar "crouch, touch, set," referees will issue instructions to "crouch, bind, set," thus taking away the much-maligned "first hit" which many believed had the impact of destabilizing scrums.

The IRB claims the new instructions will de-power the scrums by 25 percent, but rugby's governing body has a decidedly dodgy track record when it comes to officiating the scrum and the reality is that nobody knows what the impact will be.

One hopes it might bring about a return to the more traditional scrum battle that teams used to enjoy, though one suspects it will favour the weaker front rows, in which case it may benefit the Wallabies.

Ewen McKenzie vs. Steve Hansen

No one can dispute that the All Blacks have been the team to beat for some time now (when are they not?), but Australians know their close neighbours so well that they do not hold them in quite the same awe as other teams.

These trans-Tasman rivals have been competing for more than 80 years and although New Zealand have the superior record in their meetings, that means little to Ewen McKenzie's men.

Australia have beaten the All Blacks enough times not to feel intimidated (they have won two and drawn one of their last six games) and their mindset is that if they get it right on the day then they will win.

This is where the head coaches will play such a crucial role. McKenzie is a proven man-manager and his side will not be wanting for confidence and a game plan to take on the All Blacks.

Hansen, meanwhile, was the first to start the mind games with a few barbs directed in the Wallabies' direction, as reported by Fairfax Media:

He's in a difficult situation, isn't he. I'm imagining when [former coach] Robbie Deans wasn't picking Quade Cooper he was saying, 'I'll pick you, I'll pick you'.

Now our information is he's going to pick the other bloke [Toomua]. There are only two reasons he wouldn't want to tell them.

One, he's not sure himself, or two, he doesn't think they can cope with the pressure of being out there in the public too early.

So it's not affecting us. It doesn't bother me a hoot who they play.

Prediction

New Zealand will win by nine points.

The Wallabies will bounce back in the Rugby Championship and prove they are not as bad a side as the Lions made them look in the final Test.

However, the All Blacks have no weak links and will continue their winning ways despite playing away from home.

The All Blacks have suffered a massive blow just days before their first Rugby Championship game of 2013, losing star first five-eighth Daniel Carter to yet another injury which could sideline him for up to a month.

Carter will almost certainly be replaced by Aaron Cruden, who has taken the reins a number of times over the past two seasons while Carter has been injured. On these occasions he has shown himself to be an adequate option at international level.

While not quite in Carter's class, Cruden has the ability to win tight games and has shown that New Zealand do not indeed rely on Carter to win, as many felt was the case for a number of years.

Cruden's game has flourished since moving north to the Chiefs for the 2012 Super 15, where he has found a confidence that has allowed him to fulfil his potential and become the player many touted him to be.

His running game developed, showing the ability to take gaps and more crucially, take the ball to the line and put others into gaps. It is this that has made the Chiefs back line so dangerous over the past two seasons and is what will make the All Blacks hard to contain should they get the chance to play an open game in the upcoming weeks.

Defensively he is solid, not completely safe but he will generally make most of the tackles that come his way. His tactical kicking game has improved beyond measure too, and he is now capable of executing with the boot well.

This was highlighted no more so than in the second Test against France in June, where along with Israel Dagg and Aaron Smith, Cruden produced a superb display of kicking rugby while pinning the French in their own 22.

But he is no Carter. He just doesn't have the same tactical nous and the ability to steer his team around the park the way Carter does.

This exemplifies the brilliance of Carter. He brings to the table everything Cruden does with his running and distributing game, but his ability to direct a team and pull the strings is what really sets him apart and is what the All Blacks will miss the most.

It will also create more work for the loose forwards, as Carter is a player who not only tackles well, but goes looking for tackles to make. In this the loose forwards can play either tighter or looser depending on the game, as they don't have to concentrate as much on closing down the inside channel.

Without Carter the All Blacks will be more comfortable playing an open game rather than a tight one. This shouldn't be a problem against the Wallabies, who usually try to take on the All Blacks in this way anyway.

But if Carter is missing for the later Tests against South Africa and Argentina, they may find themselves having to adjust. Both teams prefer more of a grind and make it hard to play expansive rugby.

Cruden has shown himself capable of playing well enough in this type of game, but he needs to do it more consistently to get a full vote of confidence.

He is never going to be Carter and that is fine, but it goes to show once again how valuable it is having such a good player in such a key position.

So yes losing Carter is a big blow and yes the All Blacks will suffer accordingly. But Cruden's running game will still allow their back line to flourish and they will still enter the Rugby Championship very much as favourites.  

Richie McCaw has been the undisputed king of world rugby for the past decade. No player has had a bigger influence on his team's success than the All Black openside flanker and his record remains arguably the best of any player to play the game.

That he is one of the all-time greats in now indisputable. But just how great is he? Is he the greatest openside flanker New Zealand has produced?

While McCaw might currently be flavour of the month, it is important to remember the All Blacks have a long legacy of great openside flankers, each great in his own right and none should be dismissed.

Six that come to mind as being among the very best: Graham Mourie, Waka Nathan, Charlie Seeling, Michael Jones, Josh Kronfeld and of course McCaw.

So which one was the best then? 

Ultimately it is impossible to offer a finite answer. Virtually no one alive can claim to have seen all of these players and without having seen them play, how can one really judge the qualities that made them so influential in their day? 

Of course it is possible to read endless accounts of how good a player was and why they were this way. But then you have to question the credibility of the writer. How tough were they in rating the players? How extensive was their knowledge of the game? Why should a glowing report of Seeling count more than a glowing report of Nathan?

And ultimately, why should McCaw rate higher than these men simply because we have seen how good he is and not so much the others?

There are those who claim McCaw to be the greatest player to ever lace up boots, yet how many of these people can legitimately argue that he was a better player than Nathan? 

Indeed McCaw's record is impressive, as is his skill set. But so was Nathan's. He never lost a Test for the All Blacks, was one of the fastest players around the field and yet  still a strong presence in the physical confrontations.

The same could be said of Seeling, a player renowned for his toughness and strength, whose legacy has lasted over 100 years following his last Test in 1908. If a player is still being talked about a century later, you can be sure they were probably pretty good. 

Those who cite McCaw's leadership as being a defining factor would have to justify this over the leadership offered by Mourie. Mourie's intelligence and captaincy made many average All Black teams good ones, and his influence on the game was undoubtedly huge. Was this more influential than McCaw's leadership? It's hard to say really. 

Perhaps the two players that can best be compared with McCaw are Kronfeld and Jones. 

Both played in eras when the game was not overly dissimilar to McCaw's, albeit different in their own way. Also simply by virtue of the fact that by this stage games were being televised more regularly and the public gets to see them playing regularly.

It is hard to say a bad word about any of three.

Kronfeld was perhaps not quite in the same class as the other two, but at his peak would have rated as highly as any player in the world.

He was the most classical of these three opensides, a scavenger at the breakdown, always looking to steal the ball, and a terrier on defense. In attack he was a very good link player who would run off the shoulders of his backline and support players after a break.

His speed off the mark was excellent too, shutting down the opposition backline by limiting the time the first five-eighth had to make a decision.

Yet you would have to say he never quite reached the level of his predecessor, the great Jones, or his eventual heir, McCaw.

Jones was perhaps the most complete player in the history of the game. His balance and poised running with the ball were uncanny and he had exceptional ball skills, both in handling and kicking. Indeed there is almost no doubt that he could have played in the backline and been one of the legendary backs had he taken that option.

But while he was good in an open game, he also excelled in the tight. His defence was brutal and he didn't mind getting physical. In his latter years he truly mastered the flanker position, shifting to the blindside and becoming one of the best at that position in the history of the game.

He really didn't have a fault. Yet age and injury eventually caught up to him, as it does to everyone.

Which brings us to the current No. 7, McCaw. His main strength has been his versatility and ability to adapt his game over the past 12 years to keep up with changes in the way it is played. 

Early in his career he was more of a classical seven, a master at the breakdown, a tearaway on defense and a good link man. As his career has developed he has become more of a ball-runner, more physical and is now brutal on defense. His intelligence is of the highest class and he is an option in the lineout.

Perhaps his best attribute though is his anticipation, which allows him to cover for the mistakes of others. It has bailed out the All Blacks on numerous occasions over the years.

The one thing McCaw has over Jones is his leadership qualities, having captained the All Blacks since 2006 and winning everything there is to win in that time. 

His record is the most compelling of all the candidates too: 102 wins from 116 tests, a World Cup, a handful of Tri-Nations and Rugby Championships, 10 Bledisloe Cup victories, three Grand Slams and three IRB Player of the Year awards. 

However, you have to consider that there is far more rugby played in the modern era, players are better conditioned, can play for longer and now that they are now professionals  do not have to worry about holding down a job as the other five players in this article did for some or all of their careers.

Who was better out of Jones and McCaw? Perhaps it would just be a case of who they had around them, what the conditions were like, what type of game you wanted to play. Both had their strengths and to say one was better than the other is near impossible. Indeed, multiple observers have made arguments for both players being the greatest All Black of all time.

The truly great players are the ones who can influence a game by themselves on a consistent basis. Not just contribute to a team, or finish off a move, but one who is the large determining factor in their team's success.

These players did this in one way or another, each in their own way. All six were/are truly great All Blacks, and to say one is greater isn't possible. It diminishes the achievements of those who came before them, and it is an insult players who bled for their country to be dismissed simply because he did not receive the same amount of exposure as a current great.

We are always looking for the next great thing in every walk of life. It is human nature, we want to believe that what we are seeing is better than what anyone else saw. When that is gone, we want it to happen again, so we make tireless comparisons between the current superstars to legends of the past.

But ultimately it is an impossible exercise. If you are going to use the term 'all-time' then that encapsulates anyone who has ever played the game and to compare between two eras is a task that is simply too subjective. It's hard enough coming to a consensus on who the best players in each position in the current game.

So McCaw is undeniably one of the great New Zealand openside flankers, perhaps even the best. But then so could be Jones, or Nathan, while Mourie, Seeling and Kronfeld have to be right up there too. They were all great players, so why not just leave it at that?

But of course the search for greatness goes on and it always will. Just don't dismiss the greatness of those who have already been.

New Zealand will be relying on Richie McCaw in the defense of their Rugby Championship title, but some are wondering whether the All Blacks’ outstanding skipper can return to the same levels of excellence following a recent six-month sabbatical.

Ask any international player of the last decade who they least liked to play against, and one name would regularly crop up—McCaw.

It’s not that McCaw is the most physically intimidating or the dirtiest of players in what is a hard sport, it’s just that everything he does he does supremely well; he sets a level of excellence that frustrates the opposition and almost always grinds them into defeat.

Add to that his well-documented ability to operate on the gain-line, often pushing the boundaries of offside, and you have a player who is rightly regarded as one of the finest of all time. 

The 32-year-old reached the pinnacle of his sport in 2011 when he led the All Blacks to victory in their home World Cup, their first title since winning the inaugural event back in 1987.

The physical and mental pressure of that achievement took its toll on McCaw, and the openside flanker took a well-deserved six-month sabbatical.

Now he's back, and the question that remains to be answered is whether he can rediscover the form that saw him become the first player to notch 100 international victories.

To date, he has made just two brief appearances off the bench for his club Crusaders, and there is little doubt that he will lead the All Blacks in their Rugby Championship opener against Australia on August 17.

But his reintroduction will need to be carefully managed.

All Blacks selector Grant Fox told New Zealand’s LiveSport radio station that McCaw was extremely unlikely to play a full game, as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald.

We don't think he'll last 80 in Australia with the intensity and pace of Test rugby. If you want him to go 80 he would, it's just how effective he would be perhaps in the back 20 or 25 minutes.

Clearly, Sam Cane would be the guy that we use as cover and introduce him to take over from Richie if Richie is running out of petrol.

You don't earn 116 caps for the world's leading rugby nation without being a supreme athlete. McCaw knows his body better than any, and specifically how to manage comebacks after similar periods out of the game with injury.

As Fox also explained:

Richie has banked a lot over the years. You don't lose a lot, it's in the tank and it's been there for a long, long time building. He took a bit away when he took his break but he's proved it before when he's come back from injury that he doesn't take long to come up to speed.

McCaw's intelligence will serve him well as he plays himself back into top form. A key attribute of all opensides are the lines of running they take reaching the breakdown and making tackles. 

The best flankers have a sixth sense which allows them to track the ball with the least amount of running.

That sense gets better with experience, and there are few who doubt McCaw will continue to be a major thorn in opponents' sides until he finally decides to hang up his boots for good.

Piri Weepu was the big omission from today's All Blacks squad announcement, with the veteran scrum-half replaced by the uncapped TJ Perenara in a 28-man squad for the 2013 Rugby Championship. 

The move will be a surprise to some, given the selectors persistence with Weepu over the past 18 months despite his obvious lack of form and fitness. Indeed his 2013 form has been better than last year and it is somewhat surprising that he would be dropped after retaining his place last year.

Perhaps it was just a case of Weepu being given more than enough time. The All Black selectors are renowned for giving out-of-form players a chance to prove themselves, even if it means overlooking another player.

The efforts made with Israel Dagg, Aaron Smith and Ma'a Nonu earlier in the year are examples of this. All were outstanding in June against France, but struggled to show any sort of form for the majority of the Super 15 leading up to the series.

But of course everyone has a breaking point and for Weepu this was it. 

The move should ultimately help the All Blacks. In 2012 Weepu appeared too slow and not fit enough to play the All Blacks' style. He took too long organising his runners, leaving the ball in the ruck and allowing opposition defences time to organise, while also often only getting to every second ruck. 

This made for a slow game and in direct contrast to the style the All Blacks like to play. It prevents their dangerous backs receiving the ball in space and kills much of the momentum the forwards are gaining. This in turn nullifies a lot of the benefits of getting such clean front-foot ball.

Weepu's form last year was a far-cry from 2011, when he was labelled "Mr Fix-it" after he played a couple of blinders to see the All Blacks through crucial moments of the Rugby World Cup. He kicked accurately and was far quicker around the field.

Unfortunately he has not reached these heights since and his lack of fitness has seen him on the chopping block for the past two seasons.

At 21, Perenara is mature for his age. He has a very good tactical game, kicks well and is extremely strong in contact. If there is one criticism, it would be that he may lack a yard of pace. But this is a small blight on a very good player.

Of course he will need to earn his stripes and finds himself behind scrum-half rivals Aaron Smith and Tawera Kerr-Barlow in the pecking order. But overall Perenara should be a positive addition to the squad and could be wearing black for many years to come.

The other notable omission from the squad was Victor Vito, who seems to have suffered from the selectors' efforts to find a free-roaming blindside flanker rather than a hard worker. 

Skipper Richie McCaw returns to the team after a six month sabbatical which saw him miss the June tests and is the only other addition to the squad that took on France two months ago.