01/06/2007
Richie McCaw blames himself not the referees for his Super 14 yellow cards and doesn't feel he's under extra scrutiny by the whistlemen as the World Cup draws closer.McCaw's dominating abilities at the breakdowns have been a constant source of intrigue by opposition and he has regularly been accused of cheating by international coaches.
The All Blacks captain has always taken that in his stride, seeing it more as a compliment than a criticism.
But one yellow card for the All Blacks in last year's final test against Wales and two sin-binnings in his limited appearances for the Crusaders this year have raised the question: is McCaw under the microscope more in this biggest of years?
"I don't think too much more than in the past," said McCaw.
"I guess I ended up getting a couple of yellow cards but I think that was more through my own mistakes rather than refs looking at me more than usual.
"So from my point of view I was a bit disappointed that I made those mistakes but hopefully I can get that right."
McCaw and Daniel Carter loom as the two most influential All Blacks heading towards the World Cup. McCaw, in particular, has come in for special attention at times at all levels of rugby with some opposition reverting to a rough-house approach to counter his skills.
The French have a history of turning up the heat and producing questionable tactics at times but All Blacks coach Graham Henry is confident that Australian referee Stu Dickinson will be on top of things in this first test of the Iveco Series.
"The game's a physical game and I think the vast majority of games are refereed well. I'm sure Stu Dickinson tomorrow will be up to his usual high standard - he's one of the best referees in the world and we are pretty comfortable with him," said Henry.
"We don't expect anything other than the game to be played in the right spirit."
Henry has been on the record as suggesting that home crowds can influence referees. Could that happen at Eden Park?
"You have seen results over the years where home advantage is a positive and I think that may have some influence, maybe sub-consciously. You'd like to think it's a 50-50 deal every time a decision is made and that sub-conscious doesn't come into it.
"I guess that's one of the challenges of refereeing and officiating the game to the very highest standard and I guess that's a work-on for everybody. But some handle it better than others."
McCaw felt there was an extra edge to his side in camp this week that would hopefully offset the usual sort of problems associated with the first test of the season.
"The excitement levels have been pretty good this week and that's for a number of reasons. I think the guys are pretty happy to be back in this environment and looking forward to what is a pretty big year," he said.
"We want to start it off well. It's important that we get things right before we get to the Tri Nations. Hopefully we can put a performance out there that we are happy with tomorrow."
*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog
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