To start, let’s get one thing clear. Anyone who even speculates that Richie McCaw is over the hill can either stop reading now or open their mind for some education.
Let’s address the most common picking point. Physicality. Saying that McCaw isn’t what he used to be is true. This disregards context. By the time you finish reading this article you too will be different to who you were before you started. You’ll be older. So yes, Richie is getting older, so are you.
To use this as an arguing point is to ignore the other side of the story. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. You can’t get experience without getting older. Ask yourself whether the loss of physical ability outweighs the experienced gained. Sam Cane is touted as the incumbent and some think that he should be starting.
Consider the following contrasting situation in the World Cup Final at Twickenham and how Richie and Sam would approach it differently using their respective upsides of experience and physical ability.
Sam Cane is full of beans as a younger player. He is hungry and keen to make as many tackles and hit as many rucks as possible. There is less focus on decision making and more focus on physical exertion.
McCaw is mentally preparing. The body is a vessel and the mind will control the outcome. The focus is on decision making and selecting the tackles to make and selecting the rucks to hit.