Cane had massive shoes to fill as the heir to Richie McCaw as the All Blacks openside flanker in 2016, public pressure that only intensified when he took on the captaincy role in 2020 following the retirement of Kieran Read. Cane had massive shoes to fill as the heir to Richie McCaw as the All Blacks openside flanker in 2016, public pressure that only intensified when he took on the captaincy role in 2020 following the retirement of Kieran Read.