Pupils at a Dunedin school were literally jumping for joy when rugby legend Richie McCaw arrived by helicopter this morning.
McCaw, who was travelling to the school as part of Fonterra Milk for School's initiative, was greeted with cheers and chants from more than 400 assembled Fairfield School pupils as he disembarked on school grounds about 10am.
Principal Greg Lees said the school had received several nominations from the community, and the students were "very excited'' to meet McCaw.
One of the nominations was from Dunedin woman Lea Jones, who was impressed by the way Fairfield School had rallied around her family when her young daughter Hannah was receiving treatment for cancer last year.
"We knew we had 400 families behind us,'' Mrs Jones said.
"We didn't feel as alone.''
After being greeted by a haka, McCaw delivered a speech to school children where he discussed Fairfield School's values, responsibility, respect and resilience, and how important it was to be a good person as well as a good sportsman.
Later in the morning the pupils held games which McCaw joined in - and the former All Black captain even posed for selfies with the teachers.
School pupil Annalise MacDonell (12) who delivered a sign language rendition of the school song for the occasion, said she was inspired by McCaw's resilience.
Fairfield School is the fourth, and the largest, primary school around the country to be selected for "Richie's Milk Run''.
Selection is based on nominations from the community.
The other three winning schools have been Kimi Ora Community School in Hawkes Bay,
Eltham Primary School in Taranaki and Okaihau Primary School in Northland.
Brightwater School in the Tasman region has also been selected and is still to receive a visit from McCaw.
