Rugby: Read proves a more than capable leader

Kieran Read offloads after a Juan Manuel Leguizamon tackle on Saturday night. Photo / Getty Images

The Richie McCaw theory of captaincy is to aim to be the best player and go from there, something that Kieran Read should be able to emulate this week.

Read, who will take the captaincy now - probably through to the end of the Rugby Championship - needn't get caught up trying to make rousing speeches or influencing referees.

He'll be inspirational and hugely effective by playing as well as he did in Hamilton where he was thunderous in the physical business of carrying the ball and knocking people down.

There are a few good No8s in world rugby at the moment - Jamie Heaslip, Toby Faletau and Louis Picamoles - but none quite in Read's league. He's like Dan Carter in that he has the complete portfolio: that rare ability to do everything - ball carrying, tackling, winning lineout and kick-off ball and scavenging.

He can be dominant in tight encounters as he was against Argentina and world class when the tempo is high and he's roaming wide as he did in the first two Bledisloe encounters.

Where he stands alone is in his ability to play the ball out of contact. His miracle pass round the back of Martin Landajo for Aaron Smith's first try was beyond the capabilities of any other No8 - even the fabulously talented Juan Martin Fernandez Lobbe.

The Argentine skipper, playing at blindside against the All Blacks, was last year the closest challenger to Read. There wasn't much between them in terms of their general clout and ground coverage.

But Saturday night's encounter showed there is now a little bit of daylight between them.

Read looked as if he's sharpened his explosive edge in the past 12 months. The miracle pass came about only because he was so quick, low and dynamic across the ground in the build-up.

He peeled off the back of the All Black phalanx and covered 3m before the Pumas had even noticed.

Lobbe was brutish and everywhere he should have been, but while Read has advanced, he's maybe stagnated. He wasn't as dynamic or as forceful.

"Reado is well established," All Black coach Steve Hansen said.

"We're getting performances from him as we expect. We think he's probably the best No8 in the world at the moment. He didn't let usdown.

"He probably went up a gear when the skipper went off. That's what you want to see. You want your best players to find something extra when you lose another top guy."