All Blacks captain Read to quit tests after Rugby World Cup
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – All Blacks captain Kieran Read has indicated he will quit internationals after next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The 33-year-old Read said on Friday he will explore opportunities to play overseas after 2019. He said retirement from all rugby is a possibility but he would prefer to continue his career in Europe or Japan.
“It probably won’t be in New Zealand,” Read said. “We have always thought as a family that we would like to go overseas and use that experience for the kids. That is probably the main option at the moment.
Retirement “is an option as well. But I probably want to keep playing if I can. It is the experience for the kids that will be the main thing, and it has to work for us as a family.
“I hope to have it wrapped up before the start of the (2019) season because then you can give 100 percent because you know what you will be doing.”
Read first captained the All Blacks in 2012 then succeeded Richie McCaw as regular captain after the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
FILE – In this Saturday, Oct. 8, 2016 file photo, New Zealand’s captain Kieran Read, looks on during the rugby championship match between South Africa and New Zealand, at Kingsmead stadium in Durban, South Africa. All Blacks captain Kieran Read has indicated he will quit internationals after next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan. The 33-year-old Read said he would likely explore opportunities to play overseas after 2019. (AP Photo/Themba Hadebe, File)
He has won 99 of his 115 tests since his 2008 debut. The 2019 Rugby World Cup would be his third, after winning in 2011 and 2015.
Sam Whitelock, who has led New Zealand during Read’s injury absences, will likely assume the captaincy when Read departs.
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