Kieran Read one of rugby's greatest, says Will Greenwood
Wednesday 6 March 2019 12:49, UK
Will Greenwood says All Blacks captain Kieran Read, who has confirmed he will retire from Test rugby after the World Cup, is one of the sport's greatest ever players.
The All Blacks captain has announced he will leave New Zealand after the tournament in September and play club rugby in Japan for Toyota Verblitz.
The 33-year-old backrower had already indicated he was unlikely to continue in Test rugby after the World Cup which is in Japan.
Speaking on Sky Sports News Greenwood said Read, who has played in two All Blacks World Cup-winning teams, would always be held in the highest esteem.
"He's a quite incredible player, he's got 118 caps and only lost 14 fourteen matches, so he won 104 test matches," said Greenwood.
"My favourite thing about Kieran Read is he smiles and he communicates. He takes fortune and ill-fortune with the same demeanour. He gets on with the job and rolls his sleeves up.
"(As for) his post match talks after the All Blacks have lost, normally in the old days it would be 'oh my gosh, disaster has struck' but he would say 'good game of footy, they played really well, we'll go back again and we'll graft.'
"He's just a super human being, just an awesome fella. Read will play with anyone and get the best out of other people and be selfless when he does it.
"I know Steve Hansen has talked about him going down as one of the greats. The greatest Number 8 in All Blacks history will always be Zinzan Brooke but Kieran Read deserves to be talked about in the same sentence.
![during a New Zealand All Blacks captain's run at [VEUE] on November 9, 2018 in London, England.](https://e0.365dm.com/18/11/768x432/skysports-steve-hansen-new-zealand_4485090.jpg?20181112064717)
"Kieran Read is no question one of the greatest rugby players that has ever played.
"He's going to go to Japan where he has said it is slightly easier on the body rather than come to France or England and I am sure five, six, seven years down the line he will reappear with a tracksuit and a headset on and he will be communicating to the next crop of All Blacks players what they need to do.
"He will have a great (World Cup) tournament. He'll write his own history and whatever he achieves in 2019 he can look back and say 'I gave it a crack'."
