Read to delay his comeback

All Black captain Kieran Read is not expected to make his first appearance in Super Rugby for the Crusaders for another three weeks, the team said yesterday.

Read and fellow All Black forward Sam Whitelock had already been granted an extended break which will keep them out of the first four weeks of the competition with an eye to keeping them fresh for the Rugby World Cup in Japan later this year.

All Black hooker Codie Taylor had also been kept in cotton wool for the first three weeks of Super Rugby, although none have really been required with the Crusaders unbeaten after the first three weeks.

“Reado is two or three, probably, weeks away,” Crusaders assistant coach Jason Ryan said yesterday. “We are not 100 percent sure yet.

“We will just see how he goes. He is back into his training, and so forth. We are pretty confident.”

Ryan admitted that the decision to keep Read sidelined was a mix from both the Crusaders and All Blacks.

“A bit of both,” he said when asked who had the final decision. “We can’t sort of say much more than that.

“He is looking good, training today and jumping in the lineouts and he had a good week last week.”

Read, also had a late start to Super Rugby last year after undergoing spinal surgery at the end of 2017, but returned for the playoffs and the All Blacks’ Rugby Championship Tests and end-of-year tour.

The Crusaders face the winless Chiefs in Christchurch on Saturday, with Taylor likely to be considered for that match, Ryan added.

Whitelock may come into contention for their clash with the Highlanders in Dunedin next Saturday, with Read possibly travelling to Wellington to face the Hurricanes on 29 March .

The Crusaders also received some welcome news yesterday with Super Rugby’s ruling body Sanzaar acknowledging that match officials had made an error in reducing the nine-time champions to 14 men for the final six minutes of their 22-12 victory over the Reds. Referee Marius van der Westhuizen told Richie Mo’unga he had to leave the field because flyhalf Mitchell Hunt had not undergone a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) and therefore could not be replaced.

Sanzaar, however, confirmed the decision had been incorrect and acknowledged that as Hunt had suffered a “concussive” event, he was not required to have an HIA. |