Kieran Read
Kieran Read
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Kieran Read

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Kieran Read

Kieran James Read ONZM (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks.

Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of the most-capped players of all time, and the fifth-most-capped All Black in history, having played 127 tests, scoring 26 international tries. Read captained New Zealand 52 times.

He was the IRB Player of the Year in 2013 and a key member of New Zealand's 2011 and 2015 World Cup-winning teams, becoming one of only 43 players to have won multiple men's Rugby World Cups.

Read played for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition, and played for Canterbury and Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup, before spending his final season in Japan with Toyota Verblitz.

Read played his childhood rugby in the small town of Drury in the Counties Manukau region, just south of Auckland. He attended Opaheke Primary where his mother taught and Rosehill College, with a one-year interlude at Saint Kentigern College in 2000. Read excelled in all aspects of school life, but especially on the sports field. He gained excellent marks through to the end of seventh form. He was Head Boy of the 2000-student Rosehill College, as well as Sportsman of the Year and Sports All-rounder of the Year. Read was a talented cricketer, representing Northern District age-group teams and being selected for the New Zealand Under-17 tournament side in 2002.

Despite his age-group success as a cricket batsman, Read focused his efforts on rugby. One year after leaving school, he began his professional career in the Canterbury development squad. Read played his first National Provincial Championship game in 2006, his second year out of college.

Read played for the Crusaders in the Super 14 in 2007 as a blindside flanker. He moved to number 8 during the 2008 season, culminating in the squad winning the Super Rugby title.

He first captained the side in 2011, standing in for an injured Richie McCaw. In 2012, Read led the team for their first 10 matches while McCaw was rested. In 2013, another extended rest for McCaw saw Read named captain, although he missed six consecutive games with a toe injury.

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