It's not easy carrying the burden of a sports-mad nation's lofty expectations of world-beating dominance on your shoulders, especially on home soil, but Richie McCaw did it -- with a broken foot.

Battered and bruised, and knowing that the All Blacks' other iconic star player, Dan Carter, had already been ruled out for the rest of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, McCaw soldiered on for three crucial matches -- four hours of on-field punishment

He hid the extent of his injury from fans, media, his coaches and teammates to keep alive his dream of being the first New Zealand captain to lift the Webb Ellis trophy for almost a quarter of a century.

"The team had been number one in the world, or close to it, for a lot of years during the disappointment of not winning it," McCaw told CNN's Human to Hero series.

"We had a team that was good enough, but it doesn't mean anything when you get to a tournament like that, if you don't put it on the field where it counts.

"There was heartache along the way, but the appreciation of what you've done ... I certainly appreciated it. The first emotions were sheer relief that we'd finally been able to knock it off. Had we not gone through that, maybe it wouldn't mean as much as it did."

When it comes to rugby, New Zealanders expect victory. Nothing else will do. Defeat is rare -- and as painful as the body blows that are routine for those who play one of the world's most physically demanding sports.

The traditional Maori war dance that the All Blacks perform before every match -- known as "the Haka" -- is one of the most fearsome, and highly anticipated, sights on the international rugby stage.

"It is something very unique to New Zealand," McCaw said. "It's who we are and were we come from ... a little island way down south, a long way from anywhere. It's a pretty powerful symbol of what the All Blacks and New Zealand is all about."

So it was a matter of great national hurt that the All Blacks had not been world champions since winning the inaugural tournament in 1987, also at home.

"Up until the (2011) World Cup, everyone acknowledged, "Ah the All Blacks are great,' but there was always a 'but' -- I suppose because they hadn't won the World Cup. To not have that 'but' anymore was pretty satisfying," McCaw said.

McCaw knows all about winning. Having become first All Black to achieve a century of Test appearances during the 2011 World Cup, this year he reached 100 victories from just 112 appearances -- a phenomenal strike rate.

He suffered heartbreak in 2003, losing in the World Cup semifinals to arch-rivals Australia, and in 2007 the All Blacks crashed out ignominiously against France in the quarterfinals, leading McCaw to reconsider his future as captain.

Instead of making wholesale changes, the New Zealanders regrouped and went into the 2011 tournament -- once again -- as hot favorites.

McCaw reached his century of caps in the third pool game against France, but his foot problem ruled him out of the match against Canada -- and international rugby's record points scorer Carter, who was to replace him as captain, then suffered a tournament-ending injury in training.

"I didn't know what to say to Dan," McCaw recalls in his autobiography "The Open Side."

"Here's a guy, a decent humble man, acknowledged to be the best of his generation, perhaps of any generation, who's been crocked at the top of his game just when he's about to perform on the biggest stage.

"I've had the odd moment since Dan went down this afternoon where I thought, 'Jesus, it could be the two of us.' But sitting with Dan, I know that it can't be me now. Can't happen. No moaning about my foot. Unlike Dan, I've still got a chance of playing and somehow, any old how, that's what I've got to do."

McCaw returned for the quarterfinal against Argentina, in which teammate Mils Muliaina became the second All Black to win 100 caps but then went off with a fractured shoulder. The injury crisis was mounting, and McCaw had his own worries.

"If I have to jump or run or push or tackle, I can do it -- adrenaline's a great painkiller. But when play stops and I have to walk or jog to a lineout or scrum 20 meters away, I'm really struggling." he says in his book.

McCaw played the full 80 minutes in a 20-6 crushing of Australia, then held on to the bittersweet end in a nerve-wracking 8-7 win over France in the title decider -- a rematch of the 1987 final that he had watched as a boy.

"I was about age 6 and watching it on TV. The image that I have in my head is John Kirwan scoring one of the tries," he said.

"That sort of stuck with me I suppose. I thought it would be pretty cool to be like him."

While Kirwan was one of New Zealand's star backs, McCaw would go on to follow in the rugged boot prints of legendary forwards such Wayne Shelford, Michael Jones and Josh Kronfeld.

He has been named world player of the year three times, drawing both respect and anger from opponents and critics for his uncanny ability to tread the fine line between smart thinking and illegal play -- as did one of his predecessors as skipper, 1987 World Cup winner Sean Fitzpatrick.