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'Honestly, it's not all me' - Richie McCaw, Sir John Key revisit three-way handshake

January 22, 2019

The two prominent Kiwis are working on a new project together.

It was the handshake that made the world cringe, but eight years on former Prime Minister Sir John Key and former All Blacks captain Richie McCaw have put their awkward three-way shake behind them.

Following New Zealand's capture of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, McCaw, Sir John and former World Rugby Chairman Bernard Lapasset became entangled in a three-way handshake right as the Webb Ellis trophy was officially handed to the All Blacks' captain.

Appearing on TVNZ1's Seven Sharp tonight, the pair revisited the infamous moment, recreating their three-way shake with hosts Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells.

"I'm not sensitive about these things, because I've only done about 100,000 of them since that particular event," Sir John began.

"But I just want to say, for the record, anyone who's interested, go and have a look at the YouTube slow-motion video of it.

"Bernard Lapasset comes over the top, I'm looking into Richie's eyes, he's just won the World Cup, that hand comes in. Honestly, it's not all me."

To his credit, the former Prime Minister is more than happy to laugh about the hilarious blooper, having re-lived it over and over again ever since.

"I've got to say, in amongst this fantastic moment of Richie holding the World Cup [in] 2011, very close to an election, I thought to myself, 'I'm going to see that again'."

McCaw also clarified his position on the issue, explaining whose hand he was going for.

"I think you can see it from there, the Prime Minister of New Zealand," McCaw said.

The pair finally got some long awaited closure, this time engaging in a four-way handshake with Hilary and Jeremy.

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