Richie McCaw declines royal wedding invite

[beige]

Prince William's wedding invite to All Blacks captain Richie McCaw has created a right royal stir, with speculation swirling that another New Zealand rugby great could be on the list.

McCaw revealed yesterday he'd turned down the invitation to next month's extravaganza because he wants to focus on Super 15 and the Rugby World Cup.

"I did get an invitation, it was a heck of an honour and I felt a bit lucky," McCaw told the NZ Herald.

"Had I still been injured and it had not been a World Cup year, then I'm sure things would have been different."

However, Stuff understands former All Black captain and rugby legend Sean Fitzpatrick may have also received a gold-embossed invitation in the mail.

Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/n...wedding-invite

[The InnFORCEr]

Not a good omen inviting a cheater to a wedding

[Cowboy]

Give the prince a bit of a break, could hardly not invite the old man now, could he?

[mudskipper]

Not a good omen inviting a cheater to a wedding

Your always got to invted someone to tickle the bridesmaids...

[normie]

At least there will be no pinching of balls.

[travelling_gerry]

Wayne Smith From: The Australian April 23, 2011 12:00AM

YOU weren't aware that Richie McCaw and the mighty Canterbury Crusaders have a deep-seated respect for the Western Force, were you?

No, neither was I. Admittedly, it was a little surprising to discover that of the five matches these two sides have played since the Force was admitted to Super Rugby in 2006, the Crusaders have won only two. Indeed, that 40 per cent win ratio is their lowest against any side in the competition.

And let's not quibble over the fact that two of those five matches ended in draws. Honours might legitimately have been shared in Christchurch in 2009 but there is little doubt the Force was dudded badly by South African referee Marius Jonker in Perth in 2006 when he ruled winger Haig Sare had put a pinkie into touch in scoring what should have been the match-winning try in the last seconds.


The greatest rugby upset of all time suddenly went west, or rather, didn't go west. The Crusaders had gone into the game at 100-1 on favourites against a side that had only ever played eight matches in its history and lost the lot.

Hare was insistent he had scored, video replays certainly didn't make a liar of him, but the result stood, to the aggrieved disbelief of the rugby world. Afterwards, there was no disguising the sheer relief in Crusaders captain McCaw's voice. "We were lucky to get away with it," the great man said.

He has a good memory for such things, does Richie, which may explain why he is the winningest Test captain in history . . . that and the fact the side he captains happens to be the All Blacks who would probably do almost as well with Richie Cunningham in charge.

Anyway, there was Richie - McCaw, not the Happy Days character - opening his mail the other day when one envelope caught his eye. All Blacks captains tend to get a whole lot more interesting mail than the rest of us but even by these elevated standards, the letter in question looked interesting. Gold-embossed letters from Buckingham Palace generally do.

Ripping it open, he discovered - drum roll, please - an invitation to William and Kate's wedding. Now, I'm not quite sure how you responded to this piece of news but I confess when I first heard it, I spluttered "What about our Rocky?"

I mean, if the New Zealand rugby captain scores an invite, as does the Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll and the England captain Mike Tindall, too - OK, he's about to marry into royalty himself as long as he does his future mother-in-law Princess Anne's bidding and gets a nose job before he ties the knot with Zara - then why has the Australian rugby captain been overlooked?

It has wounded him deeply, apparently, being snubbed in this fashion. My spies in Canberra tell me that Rocky spends his days anxiously waiting for the mailman and rushes out to his letterbox the moment he hears the motorbike approaching, only to then troop back inside after the mailman whizzes past.

Just as well Rocky has been injured. No way known could he perform for the Brumbies with all this turmoil going on inside.

Is it the name, I wonder? I mean, when you think canapes at Buck Palace, "Rocky" isn't necessarily the first name you might associate with such a genteel setting. And heaven knows, his nose is no better than Tindall's. Wouldn't want the pair of them spooking the Princess Royal. But if that's all it is, heck, it's no trouble at all to sack Rocky and make James O'Connor the Wallabies captain instead. Sensible name, plumb-bob-straight nose. He'd fit right in at the wedding. Everyone would think he was a choirboy.

Anyway, back to Richie, standing there in Christchurch with a goofy look on his face. And then an almost imperceptible frown creases his forehead as he examines the invitation more closely. "Westminster Abbey, 11am, Friday, April 29. Dress: morning suit", it reads.

Hmmm, says Richie, as he starts to do the maths: 11am GMT equals 9pm in New Zealand equals 5pm on the west coast of Australia. His jaw drops. Omigod, he suddenly realises, that's when we'll be doing the captain's run in Perth the night before we play the Force.

No, he decides, that won't do, won't do at all.

And so, reaching for his pen black, of course he begins to write. "Dear Liz, thank you for your kind invitation . . . unfortunate clash of dates . . . prior engagement. Your faithful servant, Richie. PS: So, I suppose I'll be seeing you when you present me with the World Cup? Until October 22 then . . ."

There are those, even in New Zealand, who believe he has made a right royal blunder but deep in his heart, Richie knows he has made the correct decision. If only, he says regretfully, it hadn't been the Force.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226043530007

[hertryk]

We wouldn't have minded if he had accepted the invitation...

[normie]

Off with his head!

[beige]

Ha, no one wants to go to this wedding!

Leinster centre Brian O'Driscoll will miss the Royal Wedding on Friday in order to take part in a training session with his club.

The Ireland skipper admitted he could not miss the captain's run with his Leinster team-mates ahead of their Heineken Cup semi-final clash against defending champions Toulouse.

http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,2...897745,00.html

[jono]

[I]Ha, no one wants to go to this wedding

does anyone actually give a shit about this wedding?

[travelling_gerry]

WTF has a wedding during Rugby season??????

[jargan83]

does anyone actually give a shit about this wedding?

No

[Burgs]

Shit, I'd go, sounds like they are going to have a ball tearer all nighter after with heaps of top shelf booze and horny wannabe Princesses!

[jono]

No

I didnt think so. If it wasn't for kel, I wouldn't know about it
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[hertryk]

WTF has a wedding during Rugby season??????

My sentiments too...for a Rugby nut..what was he thinking???