Super Rugby
Kieran Read ready to run for Crusaders against Lions
ESPN Staff
March 6, 2015
Greg Growden and Sam Bruce preview Super Rugby Round 4

Kieran Read wants to start for the Crusaders against the Lions at AMI Stadium next week, the All Blacks back-rower saying after playing for the Crusader Knights against the Hurricanes development team that he is "looking forward to getting back in with the lads".

Read has not featured for the Crusaders this season, the former World Player of the Year rested as part of an agreement with New Zealand Rugby to manage player workload in Rugby World Cup year, and the seven-time Super Rugby champions have felt his absence keenly as they have won only one of their opening three games and copped a humbling defeat by the Chiefs in round three.

"I'll be back next week," Read told TVNZ in New Zealand after the Crusader Knights had defeated their Hurricanes counterparts 38 - 21.

Read noted the Crusaders had experienced "obviously a pretty tough start", but "we've got plenty of time left in the season to right a few things and get stuck in next week".

Read said the break from Super Rugby had "been great for my body and mind", and he acknowledged that he needed to re-develop his conditioning and match fitness as he was "certainly puffing a little out there but got through a few hits, given and taken as well".

Kieran Read is ready to run with the Crusaders © Getty Images
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