Richie or Pinetree?

Phil Gifford has reignited the old Richie McCaw or Colin Meads debate in his latest lazy Sunday afternoon article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/our-experts/7717819/McCaw-one-of-seven-wonders-of-rugby-world.

Veteran sports broadcaster and one-eyed Cantabrian, Gifford, now considers the current All Black captain, our greatest All Black ever after years of naming Colin Meads our greatest ever.

So is Kurow-born Richard Hugh McCaw really the greatest player ever to represent New Zealand in rugby football union? Or is Sir Colin Earl Meads of Te Kuiti still undoubtedly the best All Black of all time?

Let's look at both careers from a statistic angle -

Colin Meads, born 3 June 1936
All Black international debut, 25 May 1957 v Australia

55 caps (4 games as captain)
133 games (11 games as captain)
21 test points (7 tries)
86 test points (28 tries, 1 conversion)

Honours -
2 British Lions series win
Never lost the Bledisloe Cup

Richie McCaw, born 31 December 1980
All Black international debut, 17 Nov 2001 v Ireland

110 caps (73 as captain)
111 games (74 as captain)
95 test points (19 tries)
None scored in his 1 non-test

Honours -
Lost the Bledisloe Cup once (2002) but held it since 2003
1 British & Irish Lions series win
3 Grand Slams (2005, 2008 & 2010)
1 Rugby World Cup

Of course, the stats often don't tell the whole story and in this case they certainly don't. One must remember that the All Blacks played far less tests than they do today. Therefore, Meads' 55 caps should be held in equal regard with McCaw's 110 caps not out - and it sort of works out that the All Blacks now play double the number of tests per season compared to when Meads was playing.

Meads did score a lot of tries for a player of his position - he was truly a remarkable athlete for his time. The same could be same for McCaw who even in his 30s is still a class above the rest when it comes to physical shape and ability.

The other thing to note of course is that there was no World Cup in Meads' time. In fact, the Bledisloe Cup was the only trophy that the All Blacks played for - although series wins were just as important as today's Rugby Championship (and probably more so then).

So, in conclusion, it's too difficult to call at this point of time - and it should be as Meads and McCaw played two different games.

Meads played during the amateur era, when players were farmers, lawyers, doctors, etc. who trained in the evenings, and played a slower game with a different point-scoring system, and tests were often dour affairs played on mudbaths of pitches - goalless draws were more common then.

McCaw is playing during the professional era; the game is so fast, players are now full-time professionals who train week in week out. The game is much faster, more physical, and there is more impetus on scoring tries.

What I can say is that Meads and McCaw were/are both the greatest players of their generations, athletes superior to the rest of their peers.

What I can also say is that McCaw still has room to be remembered as the greatest player ever if he keeps on playing for another 5 years. If he makes it to the next Lions tour of New Zealand, whether as captain of the All Blacks or not, then he would be the greatest All Black we've ever had without dispute. I dare say he would have that title if he got to the 2015 Rugby World Cup and won it.