ONE of the many hallmarks of Richie McCaw’s All Blacks captaincy has been an aversion to saying anything even mildly contentious.

Yesterday, McCaw the diplomat, holding fort at Camp All Black, stayed to script. He gave the Springboks, who arrive in Auckland tonight, not the smallest crumb to feed off, with one tiny but significant exception.

In a concession of sorts, McCaw confirmed the All Blacks were using last year’s 3-0 drubbing by the Springboks as motivation for a term sadly almost extinct in the modern sporting lexicon: revenge.

”There is definitely a little bit of that,” he said. ”We felt like we never performed like we could have last year. The Africans are a good team but they are not a team that is unbeatable. So there is a bit of that.”

McCaw, like the rest of the All Blacks, failed to perform to his potential last year. And if the team suffers a similar fate this year, they will hand Peter de Villiers’ side an all-important psychological edge heading into next year’s World Cup.

”We have to start off well to win the Tri Nations,” McCaw said. ”We have got two home Tests and if we can get two wins there, it sets you up pretty well, and if we don’t, it is pretty hard to win.

”Certainly we are aware we have to win and to do that we have to break them down and make sure we get our performances right.

”We have the ability, we just have to make sure we do it for long periods in the games.”

All Blacks assistant coach Wayne Smith echoed McCaw’s sentiments.

”We are rated No.1 in the world but I don’t think anyone in the squad actually believes we are No.1 in the world after losing to the Boks last year,” he said. ”So I think there is a bit of that – really wanting to prove ourselves.

”We have a full squad, a healthy squad … we’ve got every opportunity and there is nowhere to hide.”

Smith said his side was looking forward to the Eden Park clash.

”It’s good to be at home and we have an opportunity next Saturday night and we have to be good enough,” he said. ”They are going to come primed to do what they did last year, so it’s going to be a real test.”