KEY POINTS:
All Black-in-waiting Kieran Read has learned his lesson.
That lesson, of course, is that how long he has to wait to become an All Black will be decided not by public opinion, but by Graham Henry and his selection panel.
After a stand-out Super 14 for the Crusaders, the Canterbury captain admitted he got a little caught up in the hype surrounding his expected elevation to the national team. Being left out of the squad for the in-bound tours of Ireland and England and the Tri Nations had been a reality check.
Read turns 23 tomorrow and, while he admits a call-up for the tour to Hong Kong and Europe when the team is named that day would be a nice birthday present, he certainly isn't counting his chickens.
"I probably learned a bit at the end of the Super 14 when there was a bit getting bandied around," he said.
The word from the All Blacks' selectors was to concentrate on having a good season with Canterbury. Read has done precisely that, leading from the front as Canterbury overcame a shock first round defeat to Manawatu to post 11 straight victories en route to tonight's final against Wellington.
"I've just been focusing on what I can do and that is out on the track. I feel personally that I have been playing pretty well and that is all I can do."
Having shifted to No 8 for the latter part of the season, Read will tonight lock horns with All Blacks incumbent Rodney So'oialo. The man tipped as the All Blacks No 8 of the future was, however, keen to play down the significance of the head-to-head encounter.
"I'm not really viewing it as a battle against Rodney. I'm just really focusing on my own performance. That is how I play my best, just do what I can for the team."
All Blacks halfback Andy Ellis was yesterday ruled out of the match after failing a fitness test on his injured knee.
He has been replaced by Tyson Keats while Steve Alfeld comes on the bench.
Wellington have had the wood on Canterbury in recent seasons, knocking them out of the competition in the quarter-finals in 2006 and repeating the feat last year in the semis.
Read, however, discounts any notion that the Lions might have a mental edge.
"We don't hold any fear of Wellington. We get to pit ourselves against them and we are looking forward to it."
Having shattered Bernie Fraser's long-standing record for tries in a season for Wellington with 14 so far - more than double any other player in the competition - winger Hosea Gear looms as the biggest threat to Canterbury lifting their first title since 2004.
Read is wary of the danger posed by Gear but he knows his side's often impregnable defence will also have to deal with the likes of Ma'a Nonu and Cory Jane.
"We can't be too wary of any one player. We need to even shut them down before it gets to Hosea."
A final appearance seemed a long way off when Canterbury's first game under his captaincy ended with that 25-24 defeat by Manawatu in Christchurch, but Read believes the shock loss was just the kick in the pants his team needed.
Despite a flood of trophies at Super 14 level, Canterbury had failed to "do justice" to the national championship in recent seasons, Read said.
Tonight they have their chance to put that right.
Having lost four of the last five finals, Wellington will be equally as desperate.
