Read to play for Counties
All Blacks captain Kieran Read headlines a long list of injured players set to be fit for the Rugby Championship.
Read, who had surgery on a prolapsed lumbar disc in his back last December, will on Wednesday play for Counties Manukau in their pre-season game against Tasman at the Manurewa Rugby Club.
It will be the first game Read has played since he was forced to withdraw from the All Blacks’ final game of last season, against Wales in Cardiff.
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen expects Read to play 40 minutes for his home province, before making his Super Rugby return for the Crusaders when they host the Highlanders Friday week.
There was also confirmation hooker Dane Coles (knee) should play a part in the second half of the Rugby Championship, which the All Blacks kick off with a Bledisloe Cup clash against Australia in Sydney on August 18.
Lock Brodie Retallick, loose forwards Vaea Fifita and Liam Squire, and prop Nepo Laulala, who fractured his forearm against the Blues in March, are all expected to be available.
As for two players injured in the All Blacks’ 49-14 romp over France in Dunedin, the news isn’t so good, at least for their Super Rugby teams. Flanker Ardie Savea and midfielder Sonny Bill Williams might not play again in this year’s competition, after leaving the field with ankle and shoulder injuries respectively.