Kieran Read facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Kieran Read

Read in 2020
Birth name	Kieran James Read
Date of birth	(1985-10-26) 26 October 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth	Papakura, New Zealand
Height	193 cm (6 ft 4 in)
Weight	111 kg (245 lb; 17 st 7 lb)
School	Rosehill College
University	University of Canterbury
Notable relative(s)	Ruby Harper (Cousin)
Rugby union career
Position(s) Number 8, Flanker Senior career Years Team Apps (Points) 2020–2021 Toyota Verblitz 10 (10) Provincial / State sides Years Team Apps (Points) 2006–2016 Canterbury 38 (45) 2017–2020 Counties Manukau 5 (5) Super Rugby Years Team Apps (Points) 2007–2019 Crusaders 156 (125) National team(s) Years Team Apps (Points) 2005–2006 New Zealand U21 10 (0) 2007 Junior All Blacks 3 (0) 2008–2019 New Zealand 127 (130)

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

Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of the players with the most international games ever. He is also the fourth-most-capped All Black in history. He played 127 test matches and scored 26 tries for his country. Kieran Read led the All Blacks as captain 52 times.

He was named the IRB Player of the Year in 2013. He was also a very important player in New Zealand's teams that won the 2011 and 2015 World Cups. This made him one of only 43 players to win multiple men's Rugby World Cups.

Read played for the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition. He also played for Canterbury and Counties Manukau in the Mitre 10 Cup. His last season was in Japan with Toyota Verblitz.

Early Life and School

Kieran Read grew up playing rugby in a small town called Drury. This town is south of Auckland. He went to Opaheke Primary School and Rosehill College. For one year in 2000, he also attended Saint Kentigern College.

Kieran was excellent at school, especially in sports. He got great grades and was the Head Boy at Rosehill College. He was also named Sportsman of the Year. Read was a very good cricketer and even played for New Zealand's Under-17 team in 2002.

Professional Rugby Career

Starting in Provincial Rugby

Even though he was a talented cricketer, Read decided to focus on rugby. One year after finishing school, he joined the Canterbury development squad. He played his first game in the National Provincial Championship in 2006.

Playing for the Crusaders

Read joined the Crusaders in the Super Rugby competition in 2007. He started as a blindside flanker. In 2008, he moved to his main position, Number 8. That year, his team won the Super Rugby title.

He first captained the Crusaders in 2011 when Richie McCaw was injured. In 2012, Read led the team for their first 10 games. He also captained the team in 2013. Read was the official captain of the Crusaders from 2014 to 2016.

In 2017, a new coach took over, and Sam Whitelock became captain. Read missed the first part of that season because of wrist surgery. He played in 7 matches for the Crusaders that year, including the final. The Crusaders won the final 25–17 against the Lions. Read scored 6 tries for the Crusaders that year.

Read had more injury problems in 2018. He returned to play in the 2018 Super Rugby Final on 4 August. He played very well and helped his team beat the Lions again, winning 37–18. This was the first time in 10 years the Crusaders won a Super Rugby final at home. Read was the only player left from the 2008 winning team.

Playing for the All Blacks

Early Years with the All Blacks

Read scoring a try at the 2011 Rugby World Cup

Kieran Read was first chosen for the All Blacks in 2008. He played his first game on 8 November against Scotland. The All Blacks won 32–6. Read played the whole game at blindside flanker.

In 2009, he became the All Blacks' first-choice Number 8. He took over from Rodney So'oialo. Read scored his first international try for the All Blacks on 12 June 2010. New Zealand beat Ireland 66–28. Read played in all 14 test matches for the All Blacks in 2010. He was one of only two players to do this, along with captain Richie McCaw. Read was named New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year in 2010.

Read was part of the All Blacks squad for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. He played in four of the team's seven games. The All Blacks won the World Cup by beating France 8–7 in the final.

World Cup Wins (2012–2015)

Read had another great year in 2012, playing 12 test matches. On 17 November 2012, he became the 66th All Blacks captain. He led the team for the first time against Italy in Rome. He scored a try, and the All Blacks won 42–10.

In 2013, Read was named captain of the All Blacks for a series against France. This was because Richie McCaw was taking a break. On 15 June 2013, Read captained the team for his 50th test match. This game was also the All Blacks' 500th test match. New Zealand won 30–0.

Read won the 2013 World Rugby Player of the Year award. He played in 13 of the 14 All Black tests that year. He was the third New Zealander to win this award.

In 2015, Kieran Read scored his 18th try against Argentina. This made him the most prolific try-scoring New Zealand Number 8 in test matches.

Read played in all seven All Blacks matches in the 2015 Rugby World Cup in England. He captained the team in a 47–9 win against Tonga. Read played a key role in the World Cup. The All Blacks won the final 34–17 against Australia on 31 October 2015. Read earned his second World Cup winner's medal. He became one of only 20 players to win multiple Rugby World Cups.

Captain of the All Blacks (2016–2017)

In 2016, Read became the official captain of the All Blacks. He took over from Richie McCaw, who retired. Read played in almost every test match as captain that year.

In 2017, Read returned from a broken thumb to captain the All Blacks against the British & Irish Lions. He played his 100th test match on 8 July 2017. This was the third test of the Lions series, which ended in a 15–15 draw. The series was shared between the two teams.

Read continued as captain for the rest of 2017. He scored two tries against Argentina on 1 October 2017. This brought his career total to 23 tries. Read's last test for 2017 was against Scotland. He then had back surgery to help with leg pain.

Challenges and Return (2018)

Read missed the All Blacks' three-test series against France in June 2018 due to injury. Sam Whitelock captained the team in his absence.

Read returned to Super Rugby after the French tour. He played for Counties Manukau. He made a full recovery and played in all three playoff matches for the Crusaders in 2018. He helped the Crusaders win the final against the Lions again, 37–18.

Read returned as All Black captain for the 2018 Rugby Championship. He led the All Blacks to win the Bledisloe Cup for the 16th year in a row. The All Blacks had a surprising loss to South Africa at home on 15 September 2018. Read was rested for one game but returned to lead the team to a narrow 32–30 victory against South Africa in the final round.

The 2018 end-of-season tour was mixed for Read. He played well against Australia and England. However, the All Blacks lost to Ireland 9–16 on 17 November 2018. Read finished the year by captaining the All Blacks to a 66–3 win over Italy.

Final Season and Retirement (2019)

Before the 2020 Super Rugby season, Read announced he would leave New Zealand rugby after the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

He captained New Zealand in all four warm-up tests before the World Cup. This included a draw against South Africa and a big 92–7 win over Tonga. In that game, Read scored his 26th and final career try.

On 28 August, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen named Read as captain for the 2019 Rugby World Cup squad. This was Read's third World Cup. He led New Zealand to the quarter-finals, where they beat Ireland 46–14.

Read captained the team in the semi-final against England on his 34th birthday, 26 October. The All Blacks lost 7–19. This was New Zealand's first Rugby World Cup loss since 2007. Read later shared that he played with a torn calf muscle.

New Zealand finished the World Cup in third place, beating Wales 40–17. This Bronze Final was Read's last test for New Zealand. He had already signed to play for Toyota Verblitz in Japan. Read was one of five New Zealand players to retire from international rugby after the World Cup. He finished his international career as the third-most-capped All Black ever. He also captained the All Blacks the second-most times, behind Richie McCaw.

Honours and Awards

Super Rugby Achievements

• Super Rugby Centurion (played 100+ games)
• Super Rugby Champion: 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019

Individual Awards

• New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year
  • Winner: 2010, 2013
• World Rugby Player of the Year
  • Winner: 2013
• Test Rugby Centurion (played 100+ test matches)
• All Black Captain: 2013 – 2019
• 100 Test starts

In 2020, Kieran Read was given the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit award for his great service to rugby.

Team International Honours

See also

In Spanish: Kieran Read para niños