Kieran Read: centurymaker
Kieran Read was born about 35km south of Eden Park, an hour’s drive from the ground where he will get handed his 100th test cap on Saturday night.
You could say everything has fallen into place for the All Blacks captain and No 8.
Like most kids Read, who was born in Papakura and raised in the Counties-Manukau region, probably flicked through sports magazines during his spare time, reading about various rugby identities and their achievements; no doubt the concept of playing at the famous ground in Auckland tickled his fancy.
Some famous men have worn the No 8 jersey for the All Blacks, but none have got close to wearing the black garb in a hundred tests.
Sir Brian Lochore, Murray Mexted, Buck Shelford and Zinzan Brooke would be among the names promoted by a bunch of rugby heads discussing the merits of New Zealand’s best over a few jugs of cool amber fluid and warm pies.
None got anywhere near the milestone which will be set by Read, a reflection of the uncluttered test calendar during the amateur era.
Only Brooke straddled the divide between the amateur and professional eras. He earned 58 test caps between 1997 and 2007.
Read, now 31, made his test debut against Scotland in Edinburgh in November 2008 as a blindside flanker.
By that stage of his career he was already a permanent fixture in the Crusaders and Canterbury teams, having earlier accepted the bait by Aussie McLean and Rob Penney to leave Hamilton, where he had relocated to study, and live in Christchurch.
Clearly Read possessed sporting talent, and was also a very good cricketer at Papakura’s Rosehill College.
Not that he got fast-tracked into the All Blacks. His omission from the mid-year squad by then-head coach Graham Henry in 2008 wasn’t well accepted by Read’s supporters when they learned Adam Thomson, the loose forward from the Highlanders, had been preferred.
Read’s transformation from blindside flanker to No 8 was overseen by Steve Hansen. Rodney So’oialo, Jerome Kaino and Thomson could also operate at the tail of the scrum, but by 2010 the relocated Cantabrian had secured the job for keeps. Read led the All Blacks for the first time against Italy in Rome in 2010, and became the permanent skipper when Richie McCaw retired after the 2015 World Cup final.
This third test against the British and Irish Lions at Eden Park in Auckland will be the most difficult examination Read has faced in terms of captaining his country.
He was candid in the aftermath of the 24-21 loss to the Lions in Wellington last weekend, refusing to blame the red carding of Sonny Bill Williams for the shock defeat. The All Blacks, said Read, just didn’t bring the same edge and desperation they presented in the first test at Eden Park.
It hasn’t been the most orthodox of build-ups to the test series for him. Crusaders coach Scott Robertson relieved him of the captaincy of the Super Rugby side because a wrist operation forced him to delay his arrival, and then a broken thumb sidelined him for almost two months.
Despite the limited time on the grass, Read’s fitness and skills didn’t let him down in that first test. He was outstanding.
He may be required to draw on all his energy, and intellectual grunt, for the decider at Eden Park.
Not since the 2011 World Cup final against France, a game some All Blacks zealots believed their side would win with ease, has New Zealand been on such high alert.
The hosts scraped home 8-7 against France in the final, almost freezing under the burden of expectation.
Read will remember that well. He couldn’t have picked a gnarlier assignment to mark his century of test caps.