The 34-year-old flanker played a world record 148 Tests, 131 of them wins, and led the All Blacks to two World Cup final victories, including last month's triumph against Australia.

McCaw is the only man to have captained two Rugby World Cup-winning teams and is also a three-time winner of the World Player of the Year award.

The news, expected for some time, comes 24 hours after the death of iconic All Blacks winger Jonah Lomu.

"Today, I thought about whether it was the right thing to do this," said McCaw. "But I'm going to be hanging up my boots."

McCaw, who now plans to pursue a career as a helicopter pilot, won 130 of his Tests and captained the All Blacks 109 times - both also all-time world records.

(BBC News)