Johnny Wattersontalks to the all-action backrower who was once a promising underage Black Cap

HAD NEW Zealand rugby not got the shove on seven years ago, Kieran Read’s sporting career might have followed a less colourful path than all black.

A promising batsman, Read came to not so much idle as arrive at a crossroads. Already playing with the Black Caps and All Blacks at underage levels, he was asked to choose between rugby and cricket.

In Papakura, where he was born, it was like being asked to walk with the men or run with the gods. Read chose to understudy Rodney So’oialo in the New Zealand backrow, an apprenticeship that earned his current partnership with Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino. He has no regrets.

Like most of the All Blacks, the quietly spoken off-pitch courtesy of Read belies his ferocity as a New Zealand loose forward.

A Canterbury backrow, he made his debut almost exactly two years ago and is now a player who commands attention as a potential captain when McCaw’s imperious tenure ends.

“I played with state sides and under-17 level. At under-19 level I chose rugby,” he says. “I was a batsman. It was pretty easy at the time. Rugby had the opportunities. I was hoping to get back to cricket but that didn’t really eventuate.”

With his partner expecting their first baby on Christmas Day, cricket will wait. There is a lot going on in this stress-filled World Cup season but Read’s demeanour is unflustered.

He’s relaxed but terse, a condition players occasionally develop when they are constantly rolled out to try and talk as good an All Black game as they play.

He has grown into his role and provides a high work-rate to the team and an intuitive style of play that dovetails with that of McCaw.

That dynamic with the captain makes him even more valuable in a backrow that stands as an attractive challenge to the Irish troika of Stephen Ferris, Jamie Heaslip and David Wallace.

Today Read sees Ireland as another obstacle in the path of All Black dominance rather, you feel, than a major threat to their November Grand Slam effort. The impression is Saturday’s is a game only to be lost by the All Blacks, not won by Ireland.

Although they never have in 23 meetings, the match is theirs to drop. History aside, Read keeps a respectful distance.

“No matter how they have gone in the last few weeks they’ll be ready for this match,” he says. “They would have been pretty disappointed with the way they performed when they came out to New Zealand so it’s going to be a pretty big game.”

While picking holes in the world’s best side is relative, the scrum coming under scrutiny in their game against England has become a talking point. Prop Tony Woodcock was asked about it this week but pointedly refused to answer.

It was evident there was some unhappiness with the refereeing of Frenchman Romain Poite, although South African Marius Jonkers should ease those anxieties for Aviva on Saturday.

“It’s definitely an eight-man approach,” says Read. “On our ball we’ve been pretty solid and we’ve been getting what we needed out of it.

“We can be a lot smarter as an eight and know that you only need to move them a few inches rather than trying to shove them back a long way. It’s about us working together this week.

“It’s pretty crucial to be able to adapt to the referee as quickly as possible. Sometimes you can get stuck in a pattern with him and you try to dominate that area as much as you can.”

Read also warns that trying to asphyxiate the All Blacks can also backfire. Ireland’s game plan remains encrypted in Declan Kidney and the starting team’s heads but if built in to it is an element of containment and trying to break up the All Black tempo, he urges caution there too.

“We’ve probably showed in the past that when teams do that they are not attacking us and they’re on the wrong foot already.

“Teams know they have to come out with an attacking mindset to play us. I think we have to adapt to whatever they throw at us,” says the backrow.

“I think we want to play with tempo as much as we can but if the game is slowed down then you have to adapt.”

With his full beard you can’t see the hollowed cheeks. But Read is a ball of muscle, bigger than McCaw and a long way down the well chosen path.