Richie McCaw's Season May Be Over!

The health of our greatest ever All Black is of the deep concern in the wake of last night's 25-13 win over Argentina. 

Late in the 2nd half, Richie McCaw limped off the field with a leg injury for the first time in a long time. Indeed, it must be the first time McCaw has ever limped off the field with a leg injury in the black jersey - he has come off with concussion in the past and while he did suffer a broken foot during the World Cup in 2011, he never came off the way he did. 

It has been revealed that McCaw has suffered medial ligament damage of at least Grade 2 - possibly worse - which would certainly rule him out of the Springboks test and the rest of the Rugby Championship. Indeed, his involvement for the rest of the year could be in doubt meaning McCaw's very short rugby season may very well be over.

Medial ligament injuries are one of the most debilitating injuries in world sport and this could possibly be the most debilitating injury McCaw has ever had - a surprise that is happened now given how long he has played the game!  

So All Blacks fans must now prepare for a future - short-term at least - without McCaw. Not that we've already had some practice with that. 

In the end, the All Blacks got the win against the supposed easy beats of Southern Hemisphere rugby even if it wasn't the prettiest game ever watched in rugby history.

The Aussies wrecked havoc in this game - this time with a Northwesterly front that brought heavy downpours to Waikato Stadium halfway through the game and effectively wiped out any chance of this test match being a try fest.

Indeed, the rain - and a big error early on in the game from another man named Francis - were somewhat answers to Argentine prayers in keeping them in this game although they would throw away any chance of winning the game with a late charge down that resulted in an easy try to Julian Savea - who had one of his worst games in the All Black jersey.

Francis Sai'ili in his first game at second five committed a big error which led to Argentina opening the scoring through the venerable Juan Manuel Leguizamon early on. Not the first time that Argentina have got the upper hand on the world through a man called Francis this year (for those who didn't get that, Pope Francis anyone?).

However, big Francis was actually rather good in this game, looking dangerous when running with ball in hand and it was only because of the conditions and rather lackadaisical hands from Savea which meant we never got to see the full fruits of his hard work on the field. His defence like everyone else's on the field was not bad either. Should the ABs need to place their future on big Francis, I think they'll be alright.

Besides McCaw, there are injury concerns for Wyatt Crockett, who limped off the field concussed. If he is ruled out next week, the ABs will be a bit short on front row cover - a call up for Jamie Mackintosh on the loosehead side may suffice if Owen Franks doesn't recover in time.

One of two ABs that the coaches won't have to worry about is Steven Luatua. The young Aucklander had yet another barnstormer of a game - one wonders if Liam Messam will ever get back into the number 6 jersey while Luatua's fit and healthy. Luatua's form and class at the moment is reminiscent of a Zinzan Brooke - as Justin Marshall said, he's half forward, half back.

The other is Aaron Smith, who continues to look like the best halfback in world rugby at the moment. His playmaking was absolutely top notch, relieving much of the pressure on the returning Dan Carter and his support play was par excellence. The ABs are blessed to have some quick, agile halfbacks right now and Aaron Smith is definitely the best of that bunch.

As for Los Pumas, they seemed intent to be the national football team rather than the national rugby union team, making attempts to kick the ball out of every ruck rather than put hands to the ball. Some of their plauy acting was very Messi-like too. And their discipline was almost as bad as the disgraceful 1990 World Cup team that had a man sent off in the Final.

Their scrums were a big plus on the night and that along with Nicolas Sanchez's kicking kept them in the game. Their backs were too flat at times but most backlines are when up against this great All Black wall. Graham Henry has done wonders to help Santiago Phelan and Los Pumas be more competitive against the cream of world rugby and it will surely be a matter of when Los Pumas will get their first win in the Rugby Championship.

So another All Blacks test ends with another win to the black team but this one left us with many questions rather than answers going into the next game against the old enemy.