KEY POINTS:
It was an invitation with significant consequences. In his first year out of Rosehill College, Kieran Read made the national under-19 side and accepted an invitation from coaches Aussie McLean and Rob Penney to have a look around the rugby set-up in Canterbury.
Read had intended playing club rugby in the Waikato where he was studying for a sports and leisure degree but when he badly injured his knee on weekend leave playing for the Counties Academy side, that rugby plan went on to the backburner.
His love of cricket had also been derailed by injury and the trip to Christchurch was to prove an opportune visit for the blindside flanker and the red and blacks. Read and his now fiancee packed up and headed south at the start of 2005.
Three years later, Read is certainly the successor to Crusader warhorse Reuben Thorne, has been a Junior All Black and is challenging Jerry Collins and Jerome Kaino for the national squad.
Read has built an impressive argument in the last two seasons, with his consistent output for Canterbury and the Crusaders.
He will play his 28th match in succession for the Crusaders tomorrow, coming from his bench role last week to start ahead of former All Black skipper Thorne.
"We needed to get Reuben started again after his injury, and last weekend gave us the opportunity to do that, but Kieran offers us greater match fitness and is the incumbent, which is why he is starting," coach Robbie Deans said.
Read has bulked up from the lean 92kg flanker to a powerful 105kg with regular gym work, is a strong lineout jumper, has good speed and stamina and, most importantly, appears to interpret a game well.
"I like running with the pill if I can and I think I'm an OK defender - I can work out guys in the defensive line," he said. "As for any comparison with Jerry Collins, I don't see that as a one-on-one battle, I just want to do my own thing, make sure I play my own game."
Former All Black captain Todd Blackadder has done his comparisons and likes what he sees from Read and has urged that he replaces Collins in the No 6 black jersey.
"That is a compliment hearing something like that from Todd but it is only his opinion. It certainly encourages me but I know I have got a lot to do to make a leap up to the next level."
Tomorrow offers another chance with the All Black panel watching the game live as part of their strategies before they announce their 26-man squad to start their international programme against Ireland at Wellington on June 7.
The Crusaders' form has plateaued in the last month while the Hurricanes also arrive at the semifinal after a last-round defeat.
"It is all about gearing up," said Read. "We have only lost two games and this is a great opportunity for us all. Having a do-or-die mindset is better for us. We would like to repeat the sort of heart we showed against the Blues and deliver the sort of style we displayed earlier in the series when we were in South Africa.
"Against the Hurricanes last time, we did not play as well as we could, but the way we won showed how much the victory meant to us. We also know we can play a lot better. We need to get plenty of tenacity into our defence and get up a lot of line speed to shut down their game."
Read said the major task for the Crusaders was to get their mental game in order. They had plenty of physical edge - there was no issue with that side of their game - but they needed to be far more focused than they had been in recent matches.
They had reached a semifinal last season against the Bulls but it had been a huge mission to travel and play at Loftus against a team in hot form. It had been a great occasion but it was not as reassuring as playing in Christchurch.
Read speaks highly of the Crusaders mentor, Robbie Deans, seeing it as a privilege to have been tutored by him for the past two seasons. His departure for the Wallabies would leave a huge gap in the franchise's resources but Read said he had soaked up a large range of detailed information in that time.
"Perhaps the biggest thing I have learned is that you can't go into any game with any doubts at all. You have to prepare for everything to happen, you have to have confidence in your job. I have been lucky to have that tuition."
