Richard Hugh McCaw ONZ (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player.

[4] His paternal fourth great-grandfather was Seth Smith, who built large proportions of Belgravia & Mayfair in London in the 1830s, related through his great, great-grandmother Sarah Annette Seth-Smith McCaw.

McCaw's great-great-grandfather immigrated to New Zealand from the Scottish Borders in 1893,[5] and settled in the Hakataramea Valley, Waimate District, South Canterbury.

[5] However, he failed to make the New Zealand Secondary Schools Team, losing out to Sam Harding, Angus McDonald and Hale T-Pole.

[15][16] Although the then 20-year-old McCaw had only played seventeen matches for Canterbury, John Mitchell, the new All Black coach, selected him for the 2001 end of year tour to Ireland, Scotland and Argentina.

[18] In the second half the All Blacks recovered to win 40–29 and McCaw was named man of the match, receiving a standing ovation at the post-match function.

[19] A turning point came in the second half when McCaw was able to steal the ball from Ireland, which led to a try to left wing Jonah Lomu.

[28] During the All Blacks match against South Africa in Durban a pitch invader attacked Irish referee David McHugh as a scrum was being set, dislocating his shoulder in the process.

In June he was involved in a narrow 13–15 defeat at home to England, was a non-playing reserve in a 55–3 victory against Wales and played in a 31–23 win over France.

[39] At the end of the season awards McCaw received the Kel Tremain Trophy for the New Zealand Rugby Union player of the year.

[53] Despite his injury concerns, McCaw was shortlisted for the 2005 IRB International Player of the Year, which was won by All Black teammate Dan Carter.

[62] Because 2007 was a World Cup year, All Black management decided that a select group of 22 players, including McCaw, would undergo "reconditioning" by not playing in the first seven rounds of the Super 14.

Led by McCaw, New Zealand again dropped just one game (this time a five-point loss against Australia in Melbourne) retaining the Tri Nations crown and the Bledisloe cup.

[76][77] McCaw returned for the fourth game and the All Blacks won the remaining three matches to retain the Tri Nations title and Bledisloe Cup.

The All Blacks won 13 of a record 15 tests, retained the Bledisloe Cup and Tri Nations Trophy, completed the Grand Slam and reclaimed the world No.

Although New Zealand won every match on tour, an earlier loss to France and three defeats by the South Africans were the most suffered by the All Blacks in a season since McCaw joined the team in 2001.

[92] It was to be the only loss the All Blacks would suffer that season as they went on to win another Grand Slam tour, defeating England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

In order to rest his injury, he was forced to skip the more physical aspects of training and miss the All Blacks' final pool match against Canada.

[103] McCaw was able to continue to play throughout the World Cup tournament and lifted the Webb Ellis trophy after a tense 8–7 victory over France.

[citation needed] In the first half of 2013, in order to rest his body and improve his chances of playing in the 2015 Rugby World Cup McCaw enforced the sabbatical clause in his NZRFU contract.

During this campaign, McCaw equalled (with Brian O'Driscoll of Ireland and John Smit of South Africa) the record as captaining the most test matches (83).

In 2008, McCaw told the IRB:"My main role as a flanker is, defensively, to tie in with the back line to ensure that the defence works well.

"[135] Former Australian coach Eddie Jones and flanker Phil Waugh say he does no more than any other good openside, but his skill at judging how the referee will interpret the breakdown is the main reason for his success.

[141] International players Phil Waugh,[142] Jamie Heaslip,[143] Marcus Horan,[142] Lote Tuqiri,[144] Andy Powell,[145] Dylan Hartley,[146] Quade Cooper,[147][148] Dean Greyling,[149] Kevin McLaughlin[150] and Scott Higginbotham[151] have been accused of making "cheap shots" on McCaw.

In 2012, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans and selectors wagered the potential returns in finishing games with two openside flankers on the field as a way to counter McCaw.

[197] They filmed McCaw gliding at Omarama on the extreme sports series Sportstar Insider, which was hosted by Australian former rugby league footballer Andrew Ettingshausen.

After the 2010 Canterbury earthquake he auctioned a personal flying lesson through Trade Me to raise money for the badly damaged Hororata St Johns Church.

[198] He is also raising money for a young Samoan who broke his neck playing rugby and whose village was destroyed in the 2009 Samoa earthquake and tsunami.

[203] In 2019, World Rugby inducted McCaw to its Hall of Fame, alongside Shiggy Konno, Os du Randt, Peter Fatialofa, Graham Henry, and Diego Ormaechea.

The honour surpassed the knighthood he had previously turned down prior to his retirement because only 20 living New Zealanders can gain membership at any one time.