McCaw was set to achieve the feat last week in less glamorous circumstances against lowly Japan at Hamilton's Waikato Stadium, but a calf injury ruled him out after he had been selected.
Playing old rivals France in a World Cup clash at Eden Park is the perfect scenario to become the first All Black to win 100 caps, New Zealand captain Richie McCaw said on Friday.
The openside flanker will achieve the mark at a 60,000 sellout clash in Auckland on Saturday night in a match more than likely to decide the winners of Pool A.
"If you were going to pick a place to play and a team to play against, the French would be one you would pick," McCaw told reporters at Eden Park.
McCaw was set to achieve the feat last week in less glamorous circumstances against lowly Japan at Hamilton's Waikato Stadium, but a calf injury ruled him out after he had been selected.
"Had it happened last week it still would have been pretty cool so I wasn't too worried either way, but now that it has come down to this occasion the thing now is to make sure it is a good memory," McCaw said after completing final preparations under sunny skies in Auckland.
"The last couple of days certainly I have got pretty excited and putting the fact of the personal stuff to one side it's a big game anyway and I suppose the fact that it's your 100th adds to it."
McCaw has been a mainstay of the All Blacks side since making his debut against Ireland in a 40-29 win in Dublin a decade ago.
A three-time winner of the International Rugby Board (IRB) player-of-the-year award, he is widely regarded as one of the finest All Blacks and his skills at the breakdown and ability to read the play have consistently been a thorn in the side of opponents.
The 30-year-old is likely to win many more caps although he admits few matches would rival the feeling of winning his first.
"It was a day I could finally call myself an All Black. Up until that point it was a dream," said McCaw, who raised the 48-18 win in the second Test over the British and Irish Lions in 2005 as another favoured memory.
McCaw, often cagey when talking to the media, sat grinning as he was peppered with questions about the achievement but was keen to point out that it would be a night for little celebration if the All Blacks were to suffer a surprise loss.
The nervous energy surrounding the fixture has been growing in New Zealand all week as memories of France's surprise World Cup wins over the All Blacks in the 2007 quarter-finals and 1999 semi-finals have re-surfaced.
The hosts and tournament favourites have a proud 17-year unbeaten record at Eden Park with McCaw well aware that France were the last team to beat them there.
"I watched the game," McCaw said of France's last victory at Eden Park in 1994.
"It will be quite nice if [the record] stays that way, to be honest."
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