Kieran Read

Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a former New Zealand rugby union player. He played number 8 and previously captained the All Blacks, New Zealand’s national team. Read represented New Zealand from 2008 to 2019, amassing 127 test caps and scoring 26 international tries. He ranks among the most-capped players globally and is the fifth-most-capped All Black. He led the All Blacks as captain in 52 tests. In 2013, Read was named IRB Player of the Year. He was a key figure in New Zealand’s Rugby World Cup victories in 2011 and 2015, joining the select group of 43 players to have won multiple men’s World Cups.

Read grew up playing rugby in the small town of Drury, in the Counties Manukau region south of Auckland. He attended Opaheke Primary, where his mother taught, and later Rosehill College, with a one-year stint at Saint Kentigern College in 2000. He excelled academically and athletically, becoming Head Boy of Rosehill College (which had 2,000 students), as well as Sportsman of the Year and Sports All-rounder of the Year. He also played cricket at a high level, representing Northern District age-group teams and being selected for the New Zealand Under-17 tournament side in 2002.

After leaving school, Read chose rugby over cricket and joined the Canterbury development squad a year later. He played his first National Provincial Championship match in 2006. In 2007, he debuted for the Crusaders in Super Rugby as a blindside flanker, shifting to number 8 during the 2008 season, which ended with the Crusaders winning the Super Rugby title. He first captained the Crusaders in 2011, deputising for an injured Richie McCaw.

In 2012, he led the team for the first ten matches while McCaw rested, and in 2013 he was named captain again during another extended McCaw break, though a toe injury sidelined him for six straight games. Read served as Crusaders captain from 2014 to 2016, but the team missed the 2015 playoffs. When new coach Scott Robertson took over in 2017, Read was relieved of the captaincy; Sam Whitelock replaced him, with Matt Todd and Ryan Crotty as vice captains.

Read missed the first half of that season due to wrist surgery, playing only seven matches, including the final—a 25–17 win over the Lions—where he scored six tries overall, including two doubles. Injuries continued to limit his game time in the 2018 Super Rugby season. After returning from injury following the Steinlager series against France, Read started in the 2018 Super Rugby Final on 4 August, helping the Crusaders beat the Lions again, 37–18.

This was the Crusaders’ first home Super Rugby final victory in ten years, and Read was the only player remaining from the 2008 Super 14 final-winning squad.

Read was first selected for the All Blacks on their 2008 end-of-season tour, debuting on 8 November in a 32–6 win over Scotland, starting at blindside flanker and playing the full 80 minutes. He came off the bench in three other tour matches. In 2009, he was retained for a two-test series against France, starting the first test—a 22–27 loss—and then starting at number 8 in the second, a 14–10 win, playing every minute of the series. He formed a long-standing combination with Jerome Kaino as blindside flanker.

Read started seven more times in 2009, becoming the All Blacks’ first-choice number 8, displacing veteran Rodney So’oialo. He scored his first international try on 12 June 2010 in a 66–28 win over Ireland, after Irish number 8 Jamie Heaslip was red-carded. Read started all 14 tests in 2010, one of only two players to do so (alongside captain Richie McCaw). He was the second-highest try scorer for the All Blacks that year, with five tries—behind fullback Mils Muliaina’s seven—scoring against South Africa, Australia, and England, and finishing the season with a double in a 38–18 win over Ireland.

He was named New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year, beating McCaw, who had just been named World Rugby Player of the Year for the third time.

Read was selected for the 2011 Rugby World Cup squad, playing in four of seven matches: the pool game against Canada, the quarter-final against Argentina, the semi-final against Australia, and the final against France, where New Zealand won 8–7 to become world champions for the second time. In 2012, he played 12 tests. On 17 November 2012, he became the 66th All Blacks captain, leading the team for the first time against Italy.