In any preview of an All Blacks game it’s not surprising to see references to the ‘Richie McCaw factor’. Similarly in Australia we have become used to talking about the ‘David Pocock factor’.
If the looming World Cup final between the All Blacks and Wallabies didn’t have enough intrigue, the clash of these two ‘factors’ adds enormously to the expectation of the battle between these great rivals.
Pocock and McCaw are brilliant players – skillful, tough, talented and inspirational. There have been numerous times when a win to either team has been put down to that little extra that these players give their team.
So will the clash of these two ‘factors’ be a major factor in the World Cup final?
Absolutely!
Will it be the deciding factor? That remains to be seen but when the presses ran hot throughout Sunday with the news that McCaw could face disciplinary action and that he could miss the final, I am sure there were many Wallabies supporters hoping that that would be the case.
That was despite the fact that it was well into Monday Australian time before they knew that Australia would indeed play in the final.
Being without McCaw would have been a huge blow to the All Blacks but it wouldn’t have meant that the Wallabies’ job was going to be much easier. No matter which team they put on the field, the All Blacks are in with a huge chance of retaining their title and becoming the first country to win three World Cups.
Having him in the team probably makes it more achievable.
But the Wallabies are chasing the same goal. Can they claim their third title and have yet another chant to hurl at New Zealand fans? I well remember a pub full of Wallabies supporters in Cardiff after the 1999 final chanting “Two World Cups! Two World Cups!”
Being able to sing “Three World Cups!” will be a delight but will it be the fans in black or those in gold singing it?
If it’s those in gold there is every chance that Pocock will have made a major contribution to that achievement.
It’s not surprising that when the chance of playing in the semi-finals nearly fell through the Wallabies’ fingers in the quarter-final against Scotland, Pocock wasn’t in the team.
Despite the fitness cloud hanging over him in the match against Argentina, he was brilliant. There is no doubt that the Wallabies are a better team with him playing.
Of course the All Blacks could lose McCaw and yet still win the World Cup. Australia could do the same without Pocock. With both players there and even reasonably fit the prospect of their clash is tantalising, however.
It will add so much to the already fever pitch interest in our two countries and it could well be the more dominant of the McCaw and Pocock factors that proves to be the major factor in the result.
And while on the topic of comparisons, in any discussion of rugby greatness Stephen Moore is unlikely to be rated with John Eales and Nick Farr-Jones. Yet the solid, determined Australian skipper could find himself in their company if his team can succeed in its World Cup mission.
Australia has won the World Cup twice, in 1991 under the leadership of Farr-Jones and in 1999 with John Eales as the captain. Both were exceptionally talented rugby players as well as being inspirational leaders.
Both quickly established themselves in their respective positions in the Wallabies team and ascended to the captaincy at a young age – Farr-Jones at 25 and Eales at 26.
Moore took considerably longer to seal a permanent number two jersey and was 31 when he gained the captaincy.
He may not have the same characteristics and talents as Farr-Jones and Eales but there is no doubt that he has many qualities as a player and captain that could play a role in him joining those greats as the only Australians to have captained a World Cup-winning team.
I hope he is able to join that exclusive club. I have watched his career from his early days of club rugby in Brisbane and it’s hard not to have huge admiration for him.
I hope to see him raising the William Webb-Ellis trophy aloft at the conclusion of this fascinating World Cup final.
TThugbyFan
Guest
All this rubbish of my McCaw is better than your Pocock reminds me of schoolkids bragging who has the biggest willie. I'm just happy that since about 2010, we have been gifted with watching both of them playing magic rugby. The mere fact that NZ needs to devise special tactics and put heavy hitters like J.Kaino and M.Nonu on his case is testament to just how good Pocock is. Their mission is to (a) make him feel the pain and (b) put him on the ground. To be sure, those tactics worked at Eden Park. R.McCaw, well what more can you say about the bloke? For years he ruled the rucks, but it's his continuity and smartness in play, both in attack and defending, that has him standing alone as likely the greatest ever rugby player. Only a blind person would deny that McCaw has lost some of that magic over the last few years, but he is still one very very good player in a team of great players. So folks, rather than getting all uber-nationalistic and shouting each other down that my Richie is better than your David or vice versa, just cheer as both players show the art of great rugby. Then after the Men in Gold hoist "Bill" in triumph, we can read the accolades to fabulous players who are leaving the game after RWC2015. :)
normz11oo
Guest
pocock tops mc caw?what planet would that be on?one is widely regarded as the finest openside flanker and captain the ABs have ever had,and when you that put up against some of the loosies and captains that have gone before him that's some pretty heady company,Waka"the black panther" Nathan,Ian Kirkpatrick,Graham Mourie , Michael 'iceman'Jones and trust me there have been many more,pocock better than him or them?not on planet earth he isn't,the man who played the twenty eleven world cup with a broken foot is still there and STILL the best,get over it.
Kiwi Black
Guest
Sorry guys the final was last week (SF1), this week is just the presentation. The Wallabies just aren't good enough and aren't tough enough. They will just be an appetiser for the mighty AB's before the presentation and celebration.
soapit
Guest
ok well knock johnson off then. pocock has been injured a lt but when fit he's hardly had a test where he wasnt close to the wallabies best. a few good tests is just fantasy. he's had mostly good tests and a few unbelievable tests.
Nick
Guest
You try far too hard on here PeterK You're just a fan, not an expert. You should afford some more respect to people you don't agree with rather than your usual MO of obsessive argument
Nick
Guest
All in all this fighting about McCaw V Pocock is ridiculous. McCaw has done it all and then some, arguably the greatest ever to play the game and he's won everything he can including 3 World Player of the year titles and the World Cup. Pocock is still trying to get a successive run of years on the pitch, he'll go down as one of the best ever and so he should BUT Pocock was 13 when McCaw made is test debut. Time gets everyone and McCaw is playing his last test this week (presumably) it's remarkable he's still able to challenge the much younger man in the pitch and we should be excited and very grateful to be able to watch them both one more time together. Viva McCaw and welcome Mr Pocock
hopalong
Guest
As he was born in Africa,would it be OK to bask in the reflected Pocock glory?
taylorman
Roar Guru
Yep agree with that. Agree that it's hot air. Perhaps some of us kiwis didn't like the usual poking of the stick at a player of Mccaws standing on the last week of his career. I thought it was a bit more disrespectful than usual. Anyway, I have no issues with Pocock as a player and agree the team approach will win. On that count the stats are heavily in favour of an AB win despite the thinking here, the Wallaby defence probably the biggest issue for them. They're also not going to be given a free twenty meter sideline space with no ABs in it like Argentina did so the width that Oz got versus Argie and Scotland will completely disappear, and that is the reason oz won both games ultimately. AAC won't be finding free runs yo the line as he had.
taylorman
Roar Guru
thanks, glad we got there. Enjoy the game, and Pococks performance. I'm sure he'll play well.
Southerner
Roar Rookie
Taylorman Thanks for that last thought. No, I would never pin hopes on one player. Do you remember Jonah Vs Boks in '95? The game has become so fast, so tough, so skillful, it demands a great TEAM to be successful. And at RWC these days, that means a team with at least 3 or 4 of the very highest calibre of people and players. ABs certainly have that and Oz aren't far behind, hence their ranking. So if Oz win it won't be because Pocock played well, but because he was part of a team that played well. Ditto McCaw and ABs. They may have a strong influence, but they can't be everywhere. So all this talk about one player verses the other, the stats, the team comparisons; it is really a lot of hot air. Its about as useful as saying that Oz always wins RWCs in UK. Media can say what they like, but that's a load of claptrap. What really matters is how many on each team really 'turn up' on the day. That is, how they well they turn up (especially mentally) and how well they've been prepared to maintain that for the duration, plus how well they adapt to changing conditions. And there's not one person on Roar can predict that. But my word we do have a red hot go at it anyway.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Fair enough, a strange comparison was all I was saying. Certainly a special player and still has a lot ahead of him.
taylorman
Roar Guru
Johnson didn't have too many good seasons at the top either, depends what this criteria is but Pocock with Johnson, Fitzy and McCaw? Dreaming. You need more than a punctuated career of injuries and a few good tests to make that list.
Southerner
Roar Rookie
You may be right about the gouging. Its a long time since I read it, and my brain seems to be as weak now as my hair is grey . . . .
Southerner
Roar Rookie
No need to apologise taylorman, I agree with you. Pocock does not yet have the runs on the Board that those I mentioned notched. Clearly they are in a very excusive class as footballers. However I do see in him a worldview, a presence and a mental strength that equates to the same sort of personal characteristics that the others have brought to this great game. Whether he will be part of a champion team, as have been Fitzpatrick, Johnson, Eales (x2) and McCaw (also to be x2 I believe) is yet to be revealed. But he wouldn't be out of place in one or leading one. He has that mental wherewithal. Also, he plays rugby, but he doesn't define himself and his life just by rugby. He is active in many areas that are much more important than sport. And, I believe, that puts the game in perspective for him and so he can transcend it and not be subject to it, or to the forces that it applies. So no, not in that class as a footballer, but yes certainly as a man.
sesenta y cuatro
Roar Pro
I think reducing the confrontation to McCaw vs Pocock is a way to talk the aussies up. Can really AAC stand up to the Savea challenge? can Giteau be as influential as Nonu? Can Foley direct his team as Carter does? Can Genia be as quick to the ruck as Aaron Smith? Can anyone match Retallick and Whitelock? Here and there there's class in the ABs lineup and, while a critical part of every match, the breakdown is not the only part of the game that matters. Just to show my point: Should Wallabies and ABs stalemate at the breakdown, would that mean each team has a 50% chance of winning the Final? I don't think that would be the case.
Ritchi
Guest
Yes Carter's tactical kicking will give them the edge .
Urthor
Roar Rookie
I'd add that the psychological effect of having a "cheat code" player like Pocock for the Wallabies is absolutely indespensible. It's players like him that give the side confidence they can win, and the Wallabies have exactly one, whilst the All Blacks have Savea/Nonu/Retallick/arguably Whitelock and Skudder as well.
Scotty
Guest
I'd say Pocock, Hooper, Fardy, McCalman, McMahon is okay...
Geoff
Roar Rookie
PK, sadly you seem to have some grudge against MacCaw which colors your thinking and you either treat others as beneath you, or if you are losing the arguement you cry bully, perhaps you should play the arguement not the man.
refrunningbackwards
Roar Rookie
while we are digressing briefly from an ever tensioning build up here - google news UK edition Sports is running nothing on the RWC. shameful really.