Photo: New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General / CC BY 4.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Kieran Read is my idea of a quiet titan. A 193 cm number 8 from Papakura, he spent over a decade as the spine of the All Blacks, captaining them and racking up 127 tests, one of the most-capped careers the game has seen. The 2013 World Rugby Player of the Year award confirmed what fans already knew, but what I respect most is his steadiness; he led by carrying the ball, tackling, and showing up every week without theatrics. His Order of Merit honour feels earned. Read embodies the unflashy, relentless reliability that I think defines true greatness in rugby.
Overview
Kieran James Read (born 26 October 1985) is a New Zealand former rugby union player. He played as a number 8 and is a former captain of the New Zealand national team, the All Blacks. Read played for New Zealand from 2008 to 2019. He is one of the most-capped players of all time, and the fifth-most-capped All Black in history, having played 127 tests, scoring 26 international tries.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Kieran Read
- Name (Japanese)
- キーラン・リード
- Reading
- きーらん・りーど
- Born
- October 26, 1985 (age 40)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Scorpio / Ox
- Origin
- Papakura, New Zealand
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 193 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- rugby union player
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Rosehill College
Awards & achievements
- 2013 World Rugby Men's Player of the Year
- Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Rugby union player — see all → · More people from New Zealand →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.