 But despite damaging his shoulder, McCabe returned just two weeks later as one of the key figures of Australia’s epic 11–9 shut-out of the defending champions South Africa in the tournament quarter-final.Incredibly, he then topped the team tackle count again a week later against New Zealand in the semi-final, despite being on the field for just the opening 47 minutes of the game, before his shoulder finally gave way and off-season surgery was required.Under the new leadership of Jake White, McCabe started every match of the 2012 Super Rugby season.