Absolute warrior. The ultimate competitor. An inspiration. The Crusaders' heart and soul.
If he hadn't said it so earnestly, one might think Brumbies director of rugby Laurie Fisher was laying it on thick while hyping All Blacks captain Richie McCaw's return for Saturday's Super Rugby clash.
"He is the ultimate competitor, an absolute warrior," Fisher said.
"You never get a cheap possession, you never get a cheap try.
"He just never gives in."
McCaw has been named to start at blindside flanker after being sidelined for the past two months with a fractured thumb.
He's played just 147 minutes of Super Rugby since the beginning of 2013, however Fisher scoffed at suggestions his side could run the 33-year-old off Christchurch's AMI Stadium.
"I haven't ridden a bike for a while, but I can guarantee I could get on one this arvo and be pretty handy on it," Fisher said.
McCaw's move to the No.6 jersey comes due to the stellar form of his apprentice Matt Todd at openside flanker during the Crusaders' three-match winning streak.
They'll be joined in the backrow by No.8 Luke Whitelock, who was promoted to the run-on side after captain Kieran Read failed to fully recover from a head knock in their last start win over the Chiefs two weeks ago.
With both McCaw and Todd breakdown specialists, the Brumbies, who are also known for disrupting the flow of the ball, are expecting a helter-skelter affair at the ruck.
"It's a head-to-head battle isn't it? Not just Richie but the whole Crusaders forward pack," Fisher said.
"We're really trying to push hard at being competitive around there and finding different ways to disrupt and turn ball over - within the laws of the game, as you can imagine.
"Whoever blinks first will be on the back foot."
History is against the second-placed Brumbies, however, as the Crusaders boast a decade-long, 49-match unbeaten home streak against Australian and South African teams.
Yet the Brumbies will take some handy momentum into the match against their traditional trans-Tasman rivals after naming an unchanged line-up to the one that downed the reigning premiers the Chiefs 41-23 in Canberra last week.
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