Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the
All Blacks
The New Zealand national rugby union team, commonly known as the All Blacks ( mi, Ōpango), represents New Zealand in men's international rugby union, which is considered the country's national sport. The team won the Rugby World Cup in 1987 ...
.
Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of the
most-capped players of all time, and the forth-most-capped All Black in history, having played 128 tests, scoring 26 international tries. Read captained New Zealand 52 times.
He was the
IRB Player of the Year
The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. The award is presented to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". Th ...
in 2013 and a key member of New Zealand's
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
and
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
World Cup-winning teams, becoming one of only 20
players to have won multiple Rugby World Cups.
Read played for the in the
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
competition, and played for and in the
Mitre 10 Cup
The mitre (Commonwealth English) (; Greek: μίτρα, "headband" or "turban") or miter (American English; see spelling differences), is a type of headgear now known as the traditional, ceremonial headdress of bishops and certain abbots in t ...
, before spending his final season in Japan with
Toyota Verblitz
Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of ''verde'' (Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and ''blitz'' (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and is ...
.
Early life
Read played his childhood rugby in the small town of
Drury in the
Counties Manukau region, just south of
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
. He attended Opaheke Primary where his mother taught and
Rosehill College
Rosehill College is a New Zealand co-educational state secondary school located in the Rosehill area of Papakura in the Auckland region. The college opened on 3 February 1970, and is now the largest secondary school in the area.
Located appro ...
, with a one-year interlude at
Saint Kentigern College
Saint Kentigern College is a private co-educational Presbyterian secondary school in the suburb of Pakuranga on the eastern side of Auckland, New Zealand, beside the Tamaki Estuary. It is operated by the Saint Kentigern Trust Board which also ...
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.
Professional career
Provincial
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.
Super Rugby
Read played for the
Crusaders
The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were in ...
in the
Super 14 in
2007
File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...
as a blindside flanker. He moved to number 8 during the
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
season, culminating in the squad winning the Super Rugby title.
He first captained the side in 2011, standing in for an injured
Richie McCaw
Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...
. 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.
Read was captain of the Crusaders from 2014-2016, but disappointingly the team did not make the 2015 playoffs. Read was relieved of captaincy when new coach Scott Robertson took over for the 2017 season, with Read missing the first half of the season due to wrist surgery.
Sam Whitelock
Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders, and New Zealand in five interna ...
succeeded Read as captain, with
Matt Todd
Matthew Brendon Todd (born 24 March 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, who plays as an Openside Flanker for the Toshiba Brave Lupus in the Japanese Top League competition.
Todd played 25 tests for New Zealand internationally, from ...
and
Ryan Crotty
Ryan Stevenson Crotty (born 23 September 1988) is a New Zealand-born rugby union footballer. He currently plays as a midfield back for the Kubota Spears in the Japanese Top League.
Crotty played 48 tests for New Zealand's international team, t ...
as vice captains. Read only played in 7 matches for the Crusaders that year, including starting in the final which was a 25-17 win over the Lions. Read scored 6 tries for the Crusaders that year, including two doubles.
Read missed many Super Rugby games again in the
2018 Super Rugby season
The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participate ...
, struggling with injury. Read returned to professional rugby from injury following the Steinlager series against France. This saw Read start for the Crusaders in the 2018 Super Rugby Final on 4 August that year. Read produced a high-level performance in the game and helped his team beat the Lions once again in the final, with the Crusaders winning 37-18. This was the first time in 10 years that the Crusaders won a Super Rugby final at home and Read was the only remaining player from the
2008 Super 14 season
The 2008 Super 14 season started in February 2008 with pre-season matches held from mid-January. It finished on 31 May, when the Crusaders won their seventh Super Rugby title with a 20–12 victory over the Waratahs in front of the Crusaders' ...
's final left.
All Blacks
Early years
![Rugby world cup 2011 NEW ZEALAND ARGENTINA (7309681036)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Rugby_world_cup_2011_NEW_ZEALAND_ARGENTINA_%287309681036%29.jpg)
Read was first selected for the All Blacks for the end-of-season tour in
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, making his debut in a 32-6 win against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
on 8 November. Read started at blindside flanker and played the full 80 minutes that match.
Read came off the bench for another three fixtures on the tour.
In 2009 he was retained for the All Blacks' two-test series against France, starting in the first test which was lost by the All Blacks 22-27. Read started against France the following week at number 8, his preferred position and finished off the All Blacks' 14-10 win having played every minute of the series. Read started in tandem with
Jerome Kaino
Jerome Kaino (born 6 April 1983) is a former New Zealand rugby union player.
In 2004, he was named IRB International Under-21 player of the year. In 2011, he was named the New Zealand Rugby player of the year, finishing ahead of Richie McCaw ...
as blindside flanker- this was a combination the All Blacks would continue to use for the better part of a decade. Read started another seven times in 2009 and became the All Blacks' first-choice number 8 that year, displacing the now retired 62-test veteran and former stand-in captain
Rodney So'oialo
Rodney So'oialo (born 3 October 1979 in Motoʻotua, Samoa) is a New Zealand rugby union player who recently played in Japan for the Honda Heat. He is now the director of rugby and head coach at Trinity College Kandy, Sri Lanka. Previously, he h ...
from the starting team.
Read scored his first international try for the All Blacks on 12 June 2010 when the team beat Ireland 66-28. Read's opposite
Jamie Heaslip
James Peter Richard Heaslip (born 15 December 1983) is an Irish rugby union former player who played for Leinster and Ireland. He played as a number 8. Heaslip earned 95 caps for Ireland during his international career from 2006 to 2017, makin ...
was red-carded, while Read ran rampant on the Irish defence. Read carried a heavy workload that year and started in all 14 tests for the All Blacks in 2010, being one of only two players to do so, with captain
Richie McCaw
Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...
also playing in all 14 tests. Read was the second-to-highest try-scoring All Black in 2010 and, second only to fullback
Mils Muliaina
Junior Malili "Mils" Muliaina (born 31 July 1980) is a former professional rugby union player who most recently played for San Francisco Rush in the US PRO Rugby competition. He played primarily as a fullback, though he has also played as a ...
who scored 7 tries in 2010. Read scored another 5 tries in 2010, scoring tries in wins against South Africa, Australia and England. Read finished his 2010 season with world-class performances against Ireland and Wales, scoring the first double of his career in a 38-18 win over Ireland. Read was named New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year, being chosen over Richie McCaw who was named World Rugby's Player of the Year for the third time and second year running.
Read was named in the All Blacks' 30-man squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which was hosted by New Zealand. He played in four of the team's seven matches – the pool game against Canada, the quarter-final against Argentina, the semi-final against Australia, and the final against France. The All Blacks became world champions for the second time by beating France 8-7 in the final.
2012-2015
Read had another big year for the All Blacks in 2012 and played 12 tests that year. On 17 November 2012, Read became the 66th All Blacks captain when he led the team for the first time, against Italy at Rome's Olympic Stadium in 2012, scoring a try to help the All Blacks win the match 42–10.
Following Richie McCaw's decision to take a sabbatical for the first half of 2013, Read was named captain of the All Blacks for the three-test series against France in McCaw's absence. On 15 June 2013, Read captained the team for the third time in his 50th test, which coincided with All Blacks' 500th test match, in the second game of the series between New Zealand and
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
at
AMI Stadium. The All Blacks won 30–0. Read captained the All Blacks another three times in the year, scoring two tries against South Africa in the first 20 minutes of the game, but missed out on the chance to score a third after being yellow-carded with six minutes to go.
Read won the 2013 IRB Player of the Year title after playing in 13 of the 14 All Black tests that year, becoming the third New Zealander to win the award after team mates
Dan Carter
Daniel William Carter (born 5 March 1982) is a retired New Zealand rugby union player.
Carter played for Crusaders (Super Rugby) in New Zealand and played for New Zealand's national team, the All Blacks. He is the highest point scorer in ...
and
Richie McCaw
Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...
. He also won the top national rugby player award. Read was not subbed off all year, only missing 20 minutes of the 13 tests he played due to yellow cards against South Africa and England.
Read missed the first two tests of 2014 due to concussion, with Jerome Kaino starting at number 8 in his absence. Read made his return to international rugby from injury on 21 June 2014 when the All Blacks beat England 36-13. Read only played for 40 minutes against England, with
Liam Messam
Liam Justin Messam (born 25 March 1984) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays TOP14 for RC Toulonnais. In Super Rugby, he previously played for the , and for Waikato in the ITM Cup. Messam predominantly plays as a blindside flanker b ...
replacing him at half-time. Read scored two tries in 2014, assisting the All Blacks to get through Australia 51-20 on 23 August 2014 and finishing the 2014 All Blacks season, scoring the final try against Wales on 22 November 2014. Read captained the All Blacks for the eighth time in his career earlier that year on 1 November 2014, leading the team to a 74-6 win against the United States in Chicago.
On 17 June 2015, against Argentina at Christchurch, Kieran Read scored his 18th try and moved past former All Black Zinzan Brooke as the most prolific try-scoring New Zealand Number 8 at test level.
Read played in all seven All Blacks matches in the
2015 Rugby World Cup
The 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial rugby union world championship. The tournament was hosted by England from 18 September to 31 October. Of the 20 countries competing in the World Cup in 2011, there was onl ...
, which was held in England and ultimately won by New Zealand. He captained the side to a 47-9 win against Tonga during the Pool rounds of the competition when
Richie McCaw
Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...
was rested. Read started in all three knockout rounds of the World Cup, scoring his third try of the 2015 season and second of the competition when the All Blacks thrashed France 62-13 in the quarter-final. Read continued to play an important part in the 2015 World Cup, playing the full 80 minutes of the semi-final's narrow 20-18 win over South Africa and the All Blacks' historic 34-17 victory over Australia in the final on 31 October 2015. With vice-captain
Conrad Smith
Conrad Gerard Smith (born 12 October 1981) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player, who played predominantly at centre. He captained the Hurricanes in Super Rugby, and played for New Zealand from 2004 until 2015. He was a key mem ...
replaced by
Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the List of dual-code rugby internationals#New ...
at halftime and Richie McCaw replaced by
Sam Cane
Samuel Jordan Cane (born 13 January 1992) is a New Zealand rugby union rugby player. His regular playing position is as a loose forward. He currently plays for Chiefs and Bay of Plenty.
Cane made his international debut for New Zealand in 20 ...
with only a minute left, Read captained the All Blacks for the final few seconds of the final before earning his second World Cup victors' medal, becoming one of only 20 players to win multiple Rugby World Cups.
2016-2017
In 2016, Read was promoted to Captain of the All Blacks, succeeding the long-serving McCaw who announced his retirement at the end of the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Read carried a heavy workload in 2016, starting as captain in every test but one. Read was only subbed off once that year, being replaced with four minutes to go in the second test against Argentina by Highlanders flanker
Elliot Dixon
Elliot Christopher Dixon (born 4 September 1989) is a professional rugby union player. He represents the Highlanders (rugby), Highlanders in the Super Rugby competition and Southland Rugby Football Union, Southland in the ITM Cup, playing at Rug ...
.
Read returned from a broken thumb to captain the All Blacks against the
British & Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...
in 2017, making worldwide headlines with a performance that won him the Man of The Match award and included a bone-crushing tackle on Lions first-five and three-time World Rugby Player of the Year nominee
Owen Farrell
Owen Andrew Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is an English professional rugby union player, currently captain of Gallagher Premiership side Saracens. Farrell has played international rugby for England since 2012. Farrell is one of the top poi ...
. Read was replaced by
Scott Barrett with four minutes left of the first test, with the All Blacks winning 30-15. Read captained the team in his 100th test, becoming only the eighth All Black to do so, in the third test of the Lions series, on 8 July 2017, ending in a drawn series to the two sides after the third test was a 15-15 draw.
Read continued as captain of the All Blacks for the rest of 2017, scoring two tries in the second test against Argentina on 1 October 2017, bringing his career tally to 23 after being set up for his first try by
Waisake Naholo
Waisake Ratunideuba Naholo (born 8 May 1991 Sigatoka, Fiji) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He previously played for the All Blacks Sevens and on the wing (and occasionally centre) position for London Irish. In May 2022 he signed with Rugby ...
and set up by newcomer
Damian McKenzie
Damian Sinclair McKenzie (born 20 April 1995) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays fullback or First five-eighth for Waikato in the Bunnings NPC competition and Chiefs in super rugby . McKenzie has played 40 tests for New Zealand since ...
for a second. Due to All Blacks Vice-Captain
Ben Smith taking a sabbatical,
Julian Savea
Sio Julian Savea (born 7 August 1990) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He currently plays wing for in Super Rugby Aotearoa. Savea formerly played for in the Top 14, and is a former captain of the Wellington Lions in the Mitre 10 Cup. Be ...
being dropped at the end of the Lions series after poor performances internationally and in Super Rugby, as well as
Israel Dagg
Israel Jamahl Akuhata Dagg (born 6 June 1988) is a former New Zealand rugby union player who played for the Crusaders in Super Rugby. He has also played for the New Zealand Sevens team, and represents Hawkes Bay in the ITM Cup.
Dagg played in ...
's season-ending knee injury, this meant Read had now extended his lead as the most prolific try-scorer of any player in New Zealand's
2017 Rugby Championship
The 2017 Rugby Championship was the sixth edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four c ...
squad. Despite this, Read was surpassed as the highest try-scorer in the current team by 2016 and 2017 World Rugby Player of the Year,
Beauden Barrett
Beauden John Barrett (born 27 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays as a Fly-half (rugby union), First five-eighth (fly-half) and Fullback (rugby union), fullback for Taranaki Rugby Football Union, Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cu ...
, later in the year when New Zealand beat Scotland 22-17 at Murrayfield. This was also Read's 100th start in the number 8 jersey and his last test for the 2017 season, due to his need for back surgery to relieve chronic pain in his leg. Crusaders captain
Sam Whitelock
Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders, and New Zealand in five interna ...
captained the All Blacks for the year's final test, against Wales, in Read's absence.
2018
Read did not play in the All Blacks' three-test series against France during June 2018, having only recovered from injury in May. The All Blacks were captained by
Sam Whitelock
Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders, and New Zealand in five interna ...
in Read's absence, with Ben Smith and
Sam Cane
Samuel Jordan Cane (born 13 January 1992) is a New Zealand rugby union rugby player. His regular playing position is as a loose forward. He currently plays for Chiefs and Bay of Plenty.
Cane made his international debut for New Zealand in 20 ...
as Vice-Captains. Highlanders loose forward,
Luke Whitelock, stood in for Read at number 8 and cemented his place as Read's back-up during the series.
Read returned to Super Rugby following the end of the French tour, having made his debut for Counties Manukau the week after the series finished. Read made a full recovery from injury and started for the Crusaders in all three playoff matches of the
2018 Super Rugby season
The 2018 Super Rugby season was the 23rd season of Super Rugby, an annual rugby union competition organised by SANZAAR between teams from Argentina, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Africa. After two seasons in which 18 teams participate ...
, including the final on 4 August 2018. Read played a big part in the Crusaders' victorious effort in the final and had returned to peak form in time. The Crusaders beat the Lions in the final for the second year in a row, winning 37-18.
Read returned to international rugby as All Black captain for the
2018 Rugby Championship
The 2018 Rugby Championship was the seventh edition of the expanded annual southern hemisphere Rugby Championship, featuring Argentina, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand. The competition is operated by SANZAAR, a joint venture of the four ...
, with Sam Whitelock stepping down from Captaincy. Read led the All Blacks to win the Bledisloe Cup for the 16th year in a row in the first two rounds of the competition, as well as a third-round victory against Los Pumas, which was won by 46-24. Read was replaced in the 58th minute of round three by Luke Whitelock.
The Rugby Championship's fourth round bought the biggest shock of Read's career, with the All Blacks losing to a resurgent South Africa, at home, on 15 September 2018. Read stayed composed until the end of the game, which could have been a late win but for
Beauden Barrett
Beauden John Barrett (born 27 May 1991) is a New Zealand rugby union player. He plays as a Fly-half (rugby union), First five-eighth (fly-half) and Fullback (rugby union), fullback for Taranaki Rugby Football Union, Taranaki in the Mitre 10 Cu ...
's goal-kicking. Following the narrow 34-36 loss against South Africa, Read was rested for round five, with
Ardie Savea
Ardie Suemalo Savea (born 14 October 1993) is a rugby union player who plays as a flanker or number 8 for in the ITM Cup, the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and international rugby for the New Zealand All Blacks. Savea was a member of New Zealan ...
starting at number 8, and Sam Whitelock captaining the team in his place.
Read returned from rest on 6 October for the Rugby Championship's last test, in the sixth round, which was against South Africa. Although South Africa threatened to win against the All Blacks for the second time in a row, following Read being penalised, Read lead the All Blacks to a narrow 32-30 victory, with his Crusaders team-mate
Richie Mo'unga
Richard Fou'a Mo'unga (born 25 May 1994) is a New Zealand rugby union player who currently plays as a first five-eighth for in the Bunnings NPC, the in Super Rugby, and the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks.
Early life
Mo'unga was bo ...
converting a late Ardie Savea try to win.
The
2018 end-of-season tour was a mixed tour for Read, who still hadn't fully recovered from injury. Read was praised for performances against Australia and England, but the All Blacks did lose to Ireland, 9-16, on 17 November 2018. Read was one of the poorer performing players on the field in the loss to Ireland, earning him criticism from the media. Although Read was criticised by the media for his performance against Ireland, he finished the year off Captaining the All Blacks to a 66-3 victory over Italy. Read equalled the record of former teammate
Tony Woodcock, for the third-to-most capped All Black in history during the victory over Italy, and is set to overtake Woodcock in 2019.
2019
Before the
2020 Super Rugby season started, Read confirmed that he would not re-sign with the New Zealand Rugby Union, following the
2019 Rugby World Cup
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...
in Japan.
After missing a test against Argentina during the
2019 Rugby Championship
Nineteen or 19 may refer to:
* 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20
* one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019
Films
* ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film
* ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film
Mus ...
, Read went on to Captain New Zealand in all four of the team's remaining warm-up tests before the World Cup, which included a draw against South Africa, retention of the
Bledisloe Cup
The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has va ...
, as well as a 92-7 win over Tonga, in which Read scored his 26th and final career try.
On 28 August, All Blacks Head Coach,
Steve Hansen
Sir Stephen William Hansen and High Chief Of Vaiala, (born 7 May 1959) is a New Zealand rugby union coach and former player. He is also the father of Black Ferns assistant coach, Whitney Hansen.
He was the head coach of the New Zealand nati ...
named Read as Captain, amongst 31 players in New Zealand's squad for the
2019 Rugby World Cup
The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match ...
.
This was Read's third World Cup, also joined by
Sam Whitelock
Samuel Lawrence Whitelock (born 12 October 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a lock for the Crusaders in Super Rugby and Canterbury in the Mitre 10 Cup. Whitelock has captained the Crusaders, and New Zealand in five interna ...
and
Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the List of dual-code rugby internationals#New ...
as one of three New Zealanders attending their third World Cup. After performing well in both pool stage tests he played in, Read lead New Zealand through to the quarter-finals, where they beat Ireland by 46-14.
Read was subsequently retained as Captain for the semi-final of the World Cup, against England. The test took place on 26 October, Read's 34th birthday. To Read's dismay, the All Blacks lost to England 7-19, meaning this was New Zealand's first Rugby World Cup loss since losing to France 20–18 in the
2007 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, before Read had even debuted for New Zealand. This also saw New Zealand lose their number-one ranking in World Rugby. "It's not what we came for", Read stated in response to the loss. Read would also later reveal he played in the semi-final despite a torn calf muscle.
New Zealand bounced back from losing to England, finishing the World Cup in third place, beating Wales by 40-17. Having previously signed to play for
Toyota Verblitz
Toyota Verblitz is a Japanese rugby union team in the Japan Rugby League One. Verblitz is a portmanteau of ''verde'' (Spanish and Portuguese for 'green') and ''blitz'' (German for 'lightning'). The team is owned by Toyota Motor Corporation and is ...
in the Japanese
Top League
Japan Rugby League One (formerly the Top League) is a rugby union competition in Japan. It is the highest level of professional rugby competition in the country. The Japan Rugby Football Union created the competition in 2003, by absorbing the ...
, prior to the World Cup, the Bronze Final was Read's last test for New Zealand. Read was one of five New Zealanders to retire from international rugby following the World Cup, with his Crusaders teammates,
Ryan Crotty
Ryan Stevenson Crotty (born 23 September 1988) is a New Zealand-born rugby union footballer. He currently plays as a midfield back for the Kubota Spears in the Japanese Top League.
Crotty played 48 tests for New Zealand's international team, t ...
and
Matt Todd
Matthew Brendon Todd (born 24 March 1988) is a New Zealand rugby union footballer, who plays as an Openside Flanker for the Toshiba Brave Lupus in the Japanese Top League competition.
Todd played 25 tests for New Zealand internationally, from ...
, as well as
Sonny Bill Williams
Sonny Bill Williams (born 3 August 1985) is a New Zealand heavyweight boxer, and a former professional rugby league and rugby union player and as of recently is working for Stan Sports. He is only the List of dual-code rugby internationals#New ...
and fellow former All Black Captain,
Ben Smith retiring as well. Read finished his international career as the third-to-most capped All Black of all-time, as well as the
tenth overall. Read also finished having Captained the All Blacks the second-most ever, behind
Richie McCaw
Richard Hugh McCaw (born 31 December 1980) is a retired New Zealand professional rugby union player. He captained the national team, the All Blacks, in 110 out of his 148 test matches, and won two Rugby World Cups. He has won the World Rugby ...
. Read also led the prematch haka before the match.
List of international test tries
Updated: 5 December 2018
Source:''
/small>
Honours
Super Rugby
* Super Rugby Centurion
*
Super Rugby
Super Rugby is a men's professional rugby union club competition involving teams from Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. It previously included teams from Argentina, Japan, and South Africa. Building on various Southern Hem ...
Champion -
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
2017 Super Rugby season, 2017,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
, 2019
Individual
* New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year
** Winner: 2010, 2013
*
World Rugby Player of the Year
The World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year is an accolade awarded annually by World Rugby at the World Rugby Awards. The award is presented to honour "the achievements of those involved at the highest level of the world game on the field". Th ...
** Winner: 2013
* Test Rugby Centurion
* All Black Captain: 2013 - 2019
* 100 Test starts
In the
2020 Queen's Birthday Honours
The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Elizabeth II, Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works b ...
, Read was appointed an
Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
The New Zealand Order of Merit is an order of merit in the New Zealand royal honours system. It was established by royal warrant on 30 May 1996 by Elizabeth II, Queen of New Zealand, "for those persons who in any field of endeavour, have rend ...
, for services to rugby.
International
*
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...
**Winners:
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
,
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
**Third Place:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*
Tri Nations/
The Rugby Championship
The Rugby Championship is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a s ...
**Winners: 2010,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
,
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
,
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
**Runners-up:
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
*
Bledisloe Cup
The Bledisloe Cup is an annual rugby union competition originally staged between the national teams of Australia's Wallabies and New Zealand's All Blacks that has been contested since the 1930s. The frequency that the competition is held has va ...
**Winners: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
*
Dave Gallaher Trophy The Dave Gallaher Trophy is a rugby union trophy contested between and . It is named after Dave Gallaher, the The Original All Blacks, 1905–06 All Black captain who was killed in Belgium during World War I.
History
When it comes to Rugby Union, ...
**Winners: 2009, 2013 (2x), 2016, 2017
*
Freedom Cup
The Freedom Cup () is a minor international rugby union trophy contested between South Africa and New Zealand, during The Rugby Championship and previously during The Rugby Championship's predecessor, the Tri Nations. It was first contested in 2004 ...
**Winners: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
*
Hillary Shield
The Hillary Shield is contested between England and New Zealand at rugby union. The first match was played on 29 November 2008 at Twickenham Stadium, London.
The trophy is named in memory of the New Zealand mountaineer and explorer, Sir Edmund Hi ...
**Winners: 2013, 2014 (2x), 2018
*
British & Irish Lions
The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...
series
**Winners:
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
''(Drawn series – Shared title)''
*
World Rugby Team of the Year
The World Rugby Team of the Year is awarded by the World Rugby in the spring each year. From 2004 to 2007, the award was called the IRB International Team of the Year. In 2017 the New Zealand Black Ferns became the first women's team to win the awa ...
(New Zealand)
**Winners: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017
*
Laureus Team of the Year (New Zealand)
**Winners: 2016
Source:''
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References
External links
*
Crusaders profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Read, Kieran
1985 births
New Zealand rugby union players
New Zealand international rugby union players
Crusaders (rugby union) players
Canterbury rugby union players
Rugby union flankers
Rugby union number eights
World Rugby Awards winners
People educated at Rosehill College
Rugby union players from Auckland
Living people
People from Papakura
Officers of the New Zealand Order of Merit