Oh Captains, My Captains

The exciting 2008 Tri-Nations rugby union series gets a new wrinkle this week with news that both Australia and New Zealand will be without their usual captains for their first clash this Saturday. Australia is short center Stirling Mortlock, while New Zealand will look to make do without flanker Richie McCaw. Both stars are going missing due to injury.

Although some are downplaying their absence, others are predicting that the missing players will have a big impact.

There is certainly an impact on the fans. To get an idea of how iconic McCaw is for All Blacks followers, for example, check out this brief tribute from the Alternative Rugby Commentary site :(Caution: Profanity, rude language, crude imagery, etc.)



An even closer look at how New Zealand fans feel about Richie McCaw can be gleaned from this Pulp Sport skit (also featured in this recent post on the great RugbyDump rugby union clip site), which features an unlucky television co-host who dares to walk through Christchurch on the day of an All Blacks match wearing rival fan gear and a disparaging message about the All Black hero(Caution: A whole lot of profanity and aggression, predictably):