Read impressed that Barrett chose Leinster over 'free ride' in Japan
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Whip up a list of the great No.8s to have played professional rugby and the name of Kieran Read will be somewhere in or around the top five. So it is worth paying attention when the former All Black skipper is asked about Caelan Doris.
The Leinster and Ireland captain has been widely tipped for the same leadership role with next year’s British and Irish Lions team when it travels to Australia and, while Read doesn’t push that particular agenda, his appreciation for the Mayo man should only kindle that fire.
“Yeah, I’ve watched him a bit this year and he is a very good player. A player who definitely has captaincy material all over him because you know what you’re going to get. He’s an 80-minute player and one that just does not take a step backwards,” said Read at the launch of AIB’s new club GAA series which sees him traverse Ireland.
“Every kind of impact on the game is generally a positive one. And that’s on his defence. He’s carrying the ball, plus he adds skills ball in hand. So, yeah, I rate him. I like that type of player. He’s got shooting responsibility. Then, it works well in the trio with Josh [van der Flier] on the side of the scrum to kind of work alongside him.”
Read isn’t the only Kiwi legend to have committed more time to these shores lately.
His old teammate Jordie Barrett has hit the ground running on his arrival at Leinster having scored two tries in his first two games against Bristol Bears and Clermont Auvergne. That bodes well for a short-term contract that runs up to the summer.
Barrett arrives in the prime of his sporting life. He is 27 years old and that’s probably why he eschewed the more traditional route of Japanese rugby that so many star, but ageing, New Zealanders have taken when looking for a change of pace.
The versatile back has spoken this month of his desire to ‘grow his game’ while stationed in Dublin. Read, who spent a short stint with Toyota Verblitz at the end of his own career a few years ago, can see why Leinster this time trumped what used to be called the Top League.
“I’m surprised that he did [choose Ireland] but he’s not looking for a rest and recovery. I think he’s probably pretty happy in his body. So, you go to Japan, you are having a rest. You’re not getting tested.
“It’s a free ride, mate, which is good in some ways. But if you’re wanting to really improve yourself, which I think is his mindset, you come up to your part of the world, France, and play there.
“So, he’s got a connection to Ireland. He lived there for a year, a while ago. So, I rate that decision quite highly, actually. It’s going to have an impact [on him] up here. It’s going to help his game. He’s all about growth time. So, yes, I really appreciate that.”
Read likes the idea of returning to your roots.
Now 39, he finished playing with Crusaders and New Zealand in 2019 but returned to one of the places where it all began for him when squeezing in five games with Counties Manukau before that stint in Japan.
“I always felt like I needed to do it,” he explained. “Sometimes it doesn’t work out when you’re playing for the All Blacks. You just don’t get the chance nowadays. So, once I finished that, I got it.”
It was probably no surprise then that his recent experiences in Ireland, where he met four GAA club players as part of AIB’s 'The Toughest Traits' campaign and spoke to them about balancing their sporting commitments with full-time work, resonated so much.
His trip here took in the homecoming — bonfires and all — when Louise Ward’s Kilkerrin-Clonberne won their Connacht football title last month and his take on the amateur side of the game is interesting when so much talk in the GAA now reverberates around money.
“In New Zealand and rugby, professionalism has changed the game in terms of what you can now give back to the grassroots. It has changed the game in some ways, negative though too, because it does take it away from that grassroots game.
“No All Blacks or Crusaders go back and play for their club anymore because you don’t have the time and it doesn’t work. So, the young kids who are there in those clubs don’t get to see the heroes every day like potentially it used to be.”
Read was astonished at the fact that Roisin McCormack was routinely driving from Dublin to Antrim numerous times a week to train and play with Loughgiel Shamrocks. “Like, man, that blows my mind.”