Read played his childhood rugby in the small town of Drury in the Counties Manukau region, just south of Auckland.

Read was a talented cricketer, representing Northern District age-group teams and being selected for the New Zealand Under-17 tournament side in 2002.

Read produced a high-level performance in the game and helped his team beat the Lions once again in the final, with the Crusaders winning 37–18.

Read started against France the following week at number 8, his preferred position and finished off the All Blacks' 14–10 win having played every minute of the series.

[17] Read was not subbed off all year, only missing 20 minutes of the 13 tests he played due to yellow cards against South Africa and England.

Read 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.

On 17 June 2015, against Argentina at Christchurch, Kieran Read scored his 18th try and moved past former All Black Zinzan Brooke as the most prolific try-scoring New Zealand Number 8 at test level.

[18] Read played in all seven All Blacks matches in the 2015 Rugby World Cup, which was held in England and ultimately won by New Zealand.

[19] Read started in all three knockout rounds of the World Cup, scoring his third try of the 2015 season and second of the competition when the All Blacks thrashed France 62–13 in the quarter-final.

With vice-captain Conrad Smith replaced by Sonny Bill Williams at halftime and Richie McCaw replaced by Sam Cane with only a minute left, Read captained the All Blacks for the final few seconds of the final before earning his second World Cup victors' medal, becoming one of only 20 players to win multiple Rugby World Cups.

In 2016, 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.

Read was only subbed off once that year, being replaced with four minutes to go in the second test against Argentina by Highlanders flanker Elliot Dixon.

Read returned from a broken thumb to captain the All Blacks against the British & Irish Lions in 2017, making worldwide headlines with a performance that won him the Man of The Match award and included a bone-crushing tackle on Lions first-five and three-time World Rugby Player of the Year nominee Owen Farrell.

Due to All Blacks Vice-Captain Ben Smith taking a sabbatical, Julian Savea being dropped at the end of the Lions series after poor performances internationally and in Super Rugby, as well as Israel Dagg's season-ending knee injury, this meant Read had now extended his lead as the most prolific try-scorer of any player in New Zealand's 2017 Rugby Championship squad.

This was also Read's 100th start in the number 8 jersey and his last test for the 2017 season, due to his need for back surgery to relieve chronic pain in his leg.

[21] Read returned to Super Rugby following the end of the French tour, having made his debut for Counties Manukau the week after the series finished.

Read made a full recovery from injury and started for the Crusaders in all three playoff matches of the 2018 Super Rugby season, including the final on 4 August 2018.

Read led the All Blacks to win the Bledisloe Cup for the 16th year in a row in the first two rounds of the competition, as well as a third-round victory against Los Pumas, which was won by 46–24.

The Rugby Championship's fourth round bought the biggest shock of Read's career, with the All Blacks losing to a resurgent South Africa, at home, on 15 September 2018.

Following the narrow 34–36 loss against South Africa, Read was rested for round five, with Ardie Savea starting at number 8, and Sam Whitelock captaining the team in his place.

On 28 August, All Blacks Head Coach, Steve Hansen named Read as captain, amongst 31 players in New Zealand's squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Having previously signed to play for Toyota Verblitz in the Japanese Top League, prior to the World Cup, the Bronze Final was Read's last test for New Zealand.

Updated: 5 December 2018 Source: [1] In the 2020 Queen's Birthday Honours, Read was appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to rugby.