All great loosies must come to an end.
All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has revealed to TVNZ that he is likely to retire from rugby at the conclusion of this year’s Rugby World Cup.
The New Zealander hopes to lead his country into the tournament, in England, this September and October. His number one priority is to become the first ever man to captain his team to the retention of the Webb Ellis trophy.
He said, ‘Honestly, I haven’t made any final decisions but probably the likelihood is I’m not going to be playing next year.’
The 34-year-old added, ‘I don’t want to be getting carried away now talking about those sorts of things when I am focusing about playing. I want to really enjoy this year but, as I say, that’s the likelihood and I don’t want to make any big announcements because I don’t think that would be right going into a season.’
McCaw is certain of one thing – he will not pack his boots into a suitcase and head to Europe, or Japan, for a lucrative payday. Dan Carter is set to earn a reported €1.2m a season with Racing Métro but McCaw will not fossick around for his passport once he returns home from the World Cup.
He said, ‘Everyone is motivated a bit differently and I’ve always said that is not the number one motivation. Obviously, it is nice to play and get well looked after because of that but I’ve always said that if I was enjoying it and wanted to carry on playing then I would play here [in New Zealand].’
