To be a Member of the Order of New Zealand:
MCCAW, Mr Richard Hugh
For services to New Zealand
Mr Richard McCaw has been a member of the All Blacks since 2001 and Captain since 2006, and is regarded as New Zealand’s finest rugby player.
Mr McCaw captained the All Blacks to victory in the 2011 and 2015 Rugby World Cups. He played in the 2003 World Cup and captained the All Blacks at the 2007 Rugby World Cup. He became the first All Black to reach 100 Tests in 2011 and was the first rugby union player to achieve 100 caps as Captain. As of 2015 he is the most capped player in rugby union history with 148 caps. He has been named the International Rugby Board’s International Player of the Year three times in 2006, 2009 and 2010. Since his debut the All Blacks have won seven Tri-Nations titles, completed three successful Grand Slam tours and won the Bledisloe Cup eight times. He was a founding Trustee in 2009 of the For Everyone Charitable Foundation (now iSport), which has provided grants to a variety of community organisations and sporting bodies with a more recent focus on youth sport. He has been involved with the CatWalk Trust to support research into cures for spinal cord injuries since 2007 and is Patron of the charity. Mr McCaw has also Captained the Canterbury and Crusaders rugby teams, during which time Canterbury won the National Provincial Championship (later the ITM Cup) five times, and the Crusaders have reached the Super Rugby semi-finals nine times, going on to win the final on four of these occasions.
To view the biographical notes of other Members of the Order of New Zealand click here.