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Kieran_Read_ONZM photo by New Zealand Government –

Top 10 Intriguing Facts about Kieran Read

Kieran James Read is a New Zealand legend Rugby Union player and played number eight. He is the former Captain of the New Zealand national team, the All blacks.

Kieran is believed to be one of the best rugby players whose sheer will and tenacity aided New Zealand to spring into the great body it is today.

He played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019, having played 128 tests, scoring 26 internationally, and is one of the most capped players of all time.

Watching Kieran read the play is a form of inspiration, one can see the power and full dedication he passes not only to his teammates but he spreads Kieran’s energy specific to him.

The foundation of his fan base is solid and his character has glued his fans loyal to him. He has truly left behind a stardust of success for his team, let’s find out more on this top 10  Remarkable Facts about Kieran Read.

1. He captained the New Zealand Team 52 times

Many Rugby fans remember him for being a great Captain to the Crusaders, he first played for the crusaders in the Super Q4 in 2007 as a blindside flanker.

He obtained the number 8 during the 2008 season, amounting to the squad winning the super Rugby title.

He first undertook the role of captain in 2011, standing in for an injured Richie McCaw and he morphed into the role excellently.

He led the team for their first 10 matches while McCaw was rested and another extended rest for McCaw in 2013 saw Kieran named captain, this was sadly made difficult by a toe injury making him miss six consecutive games.

He was the captain of the crusaders from 2014 to 2016, unfortunately, the team didn’t make it to the 2015 playoffs.

Read missed half of the 2017 season due to a wrist injury and he was relieved of his captaincy when the new coach, Scott Robertson took over for that season.

His captain position was handed over to Sam Whitelock and he only participated in 7 matches that year for the crusaders, and by the time he retired, he had captained New Zealand 52 times.

2. He was IRB Player of the year in 2013

2017 Rugby Championship, Bledisloe 1, Australia vs New Zealand photo by www.davidmolloyphotography.com-

In 2013 Read won the IRB Player of the year title, he played 13 out of the 14 All-Black tests that year becoming the third New Zealander to win the award after teammates Dan Carter and Richie McCaw.

3. He won Multiple Rugby World Cups

Read was absent from the first two tests of the World Cup due to concussions and was replaced by Kaino starting at number eight. He returned to international rugby from injury on 21 June 2014, a victorious moment when the All Blacks beat England 36_13.

Read played for 40 minutes against England and was later replaced by Liam Messam at halftime. He scored two tries in 2014, assisting the All Blacks to get through to Australia 51_20 and finishing the All Blacks 2014 season.

He brightened the end of that season by scoring the final try against Wales on November 22, 2014.

That same year he 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.

Read scored his 18^th try on 17 June 20015, against Argentina at Christchurch, he moved past the former All-Black Zinzan Brooke as the most prolific try-scoring New Zeeland Number 8 at the test level.

In the 2015 Rugby World Cup, he played in all seven All Blacks Matches which were held in England and won by New Zealand.

He led the team to the side to a 47_9 win against Tonga during poll rounds of competition when Richie McCaw was rested. He started in all three knockout rounds of the world cup, scoring his third try of the 2015 season. Read captained the All Blacks for the final seconds of the final before he earned his second World cup Victor’s medal, making him one of the only 20 players to win multiple Rugby World Cups.

4. He was a talented cricketer

From a young age, Read played Rugby in the small town of Dury in the Counties Manukau region, south of Auckland. Read excelled in all aspects of school life, particularly on the sports field.

What might come as surprising to his fans is that Read wasn’t just a talented rugby player but also a superb cricketer, he represented the Northern district age group teams and was selected for the New Zeeland under 17 tournament side in 2002.

Reads friends a d family believed he would be a cricket superstar, and it was a shock when he decided on rugby as a career choice. Read told reporters “I think there were probably was, most people thought I was a better cricketer than a rugby player at school, so it was something I really enjoyed and still do still love it”.

5. He won the Man of The Match award

Kieran_Read_ONZM_investiture photo by New Zealand Government-

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.

Despite being engulfed by pain due to a broken thumb reads never surrendered his willpower, he instead captained the All Blacks against the British and Irish Lions in 2017.

This season his stunning performance made him a worldwide headline and it won him the Man of The Match award which included a bone-crushing tackle on Lion’s first five and three-time World Rugby Player of the Year nominee Owen Farrel.

6. He received the most yellow card

During his long test career Read was banned on five occasions earning him five yellow cards and making him the person with the most yellow cards of All blacks.

His first yellow card came during a 29 _15 victory against South Africa, in that game he captained the All blacks and he also received two tries.

His last yellow card came against Argentina in 2015 _a match in which he also crossed the whitewash twice.

7. He wore Jersey number 8

Kieran Read playing in the 2015 Rugby World Cup game photo by Alasdair Massie-

It’s believed that Kieran Read is the greatest number eight all-black member in history. The Jersey number in which Read made his All-Black debut is of much value to the player as much of his victories and loss was shouldered on the great number he wore with pride.

He first wore the All-Blacks number eight Jersey against France in Wellington on June 20, 2009, as the host won 14_10. In total, he played 118 tests at the base of the scrum.

8. He was held back by an injury during the 2018 series

Read was unable to play for the All-Black three-test series against France during the 2018 season, this was a result of having only recovered from an injury in May.

Instead, The All Black was captained by Sam Whitelock and he stood in for him at number 8 and even earned his place as Reads back up during the series.

9. He was harshly critiqued at the 2018 end-of-season tour

Read had not fully recovered from his injury and though he was praised for his performance against Australia and England, he was one of the poorer performers on the field towards the 2018 end-of-season tour. He faced a lot of criticism from the media as a result of the loss to Ireland.

10. He has retired from rugby

Kieran_McAnulty_ministerial_appointment photo by New Zealand Government-

Kieran Read has retired from the rugby scene along with his crusader teammates, Ryan Crotty and Matt Todd.

His career saw him make 127 Test appearances for Newzealand,52 as captain and has won four Super Rugby titles among many other achievements.