Richie McCaw Retires: Latest Details, Comments and Reaction

Richie McCaw has announced his retirement from professional rugby, bringing to a close one of the most decorated careers in the sport just three weeks after he captained New Zealand to the 2015 Rugby World Cup crown.

The All Blacks legend confirmed his decision at a press conference in Wellington on Thursday, per Stuff.co.nz, hanging up his boots after earning 148 international caps for New Zealand, making him the most capped Test player of all time. Before the official press conference, McCaw confirmed the news via his Facebook account:

McCaw's cap achievement is particularly impressive when one considers the two players directly behind him in the Test cap count, Brian O'Driscoll (141) and George Gregan (139) played in much less physical positions.

Opening up on his decision to call time at this juncture, McCaw was quoted by the Telegraph's Mick Cleary, where he stated:

"

This the end of my rugby days, the reality of hanging up my boots. This is the end of something that has been a big part of my life. I left it until now but I didn’t want to have a foot out of the door during the World Cup. I wanted to make it about the team, not about the individual.

"

That sentiment summarises what it was that made the famed No. 7 great at his job, so often sacrificing his body for the good of the team, a notion that rang true until the final whistle of October's final win over Australia.

The Press Association broke McCaw's career down by the numbers, helping put into context just what a uniquely gifted talent he was:

The Times' Alex Lowe shared his own startling statistic to provide the same effect:

Clinching this year's World Cup serves as the perfect manner for McCaw to take his leave of the sport, bowing out on the biggest stage of all and leading the All Blacks to back-to-back championships.

OptaJonny helped put into numbers exactly what kind of a leader figure the veteran was during his career, as he also helped the Crusaders win four Super Rugby titles during a glistening 14-year career:    

McCaw's announcement fell on the same day the Guardian's Mike Hytner reported New Zealand great Jonah Lomu had died. Lomu was a former team-mate of McCaw's at the Test level.

According to Charlie Morgan of Rugby World, McCaw touched upon that tragic loss before addressing his news in Wellington:

James McOnie, presenter of The Crowd Goes Wild, revealed McCaw will become a commercial helicopter pilot after retiring from rugby, a career path hardly without its own share of adrenaline, but nothing compared to his past two decades:

McCaw made his New Zealand debut in 2001—his first year in Super Rugby—and the flanker played out the entirety of his career in Christchurch.

Rugby World's Paul Wiliams gave his own account of the evergreen McCaw's quality, dubbing him "the best forward" he's ever seen play:

Some may even take it a step further than that and claim McCaw is the best there's ever been, maintaining an elite standard of rugby throughout his career—especially admirable when one considers the physical nature of his approach.

Planet Rugby's Ben Coles attested to that opinion, but rightly asserted that only after experiencing what rugby's like without McCaw will we come to know just what a presence he really was:

New Zealand coach Steve Hansen would seem to agree having referred to McCaw as "the greatest All Black we ever had" following this year's World Cup win, per Sky Sports, the second time McCaw led the team to that feat.

There was speculation that McCaw, who turns 35 at the end of December, could prolong his playing career until the 2017 British and Irish Lions Tour, but that was too far for one even as vitalised as him.