Kieran Read: All Blacks missing 'absolute belief' that Springboks possess

Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read has delivered his assessment on what teams possess the dangerous “absolute belief” that his All Blacks teams of the early 2010s had.

The 127-Test forward says the trait is defined not by confidence, but by the knowledge that regardless of the circumstance, your team has what it takes to come out on top. There is only one way to acquire that knowledge: winning, consistently.

After lifting the 2011 Rugby World Cup, the All Blacks proceeded to win 41 of 46 games heading into the 2015 tournament, and while there were some resounding victories, there were also plenty of close calls that ultimately went the Kiwis’ way.

One particular match, against Ireland at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium in the final Test of the 2013 campaign, saw New Zealand facing a 19-0 deficit after just 20 minutes. But as Read recalled this week during an appearance on The Good, The Bad & Rugby Australia & New Zealand show, the team’s belief never wavered.

“That was 2013, and we were trying to go unbeaten that year,” Read said. “It was the last game of the season, so there was a little bit of letting the foot off the throat for us, maybe, at the start of that game, but we’re a team that had built this absolute belief in each other and the ability to come back from whatever situation was thrown at us. 

“So in that moment, we were down and out; it was like, ‘Okay, let’s go back to who we are, which is being All Blacks’, and you got Skipper (Richie McCaw) just telling you to relax and calm down, and we’re in a pretty good space mentally in that game, even though the scoreboard was telling us something different. It was like, ‘Nah, go to our process.’

“We got lucky with a missed kick from (Johnny) Sexton in the game, and then we went the whole field on the last play, in the 84th minute, and scored. 

“So there’s something about belief, and there’s something about building that over a period of time, and you can’t just switch it on.”

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It was Ryan Crotty who scored that match-winning try, with Aaron Cruden converting when awarded a second attempt from the tee, and the All Blacks finished the 2013 season with a perfect record. Read went on to apply that idea of “absolute belief” to this weekend’s slate of Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals.

“It’s hard if you’re the Blues trying to switch it on in the changing shed; you can say it, but it’s not deep down in there, right? There are certain teams, I think the Chiefs and Crusaders certainly will have that. If they have to go to Wellington and win, they’ll have that in them. Most definitely, the Crusaders will have that in them; they’ve got two-thirds of that team that have been there, done that, and they know they can do it, and so that has a huge bearing on your mental capacity to keep going under a little bit of adversity or fatigue or scoreboard pressure, or whatever it is.”

While Read’s All Blacks developed the belief over a period of sustained success, that’s something the current national squad haven’t achieved to the same degree in recent years.

With the Kiwis and famous rivals South Africa set to lock horns in a gruelling four-Test series later this year, Read delivered his verdict on where the All Blacks stand in 2026. He didn’t hesitate when asked whether the team have that “abolsute belief”.

“No, they don’t, but it’s because they don’t have the experiences or the evidence of it happening, right? Being put there and coming out the other side.

“The South Africans have it, they definitely have it. They’ve built this experience with games that are hard, and they’ve come through, and they’ve won, and they’ve got an ability to know exactly who they are and exactly how they play.

“So it’s more than just a belief to come out of sticky situations, belief to know how you play the game, and the South Africans know exactly how to play the game. The All Blacks right now probably don’t. There’s opportunities with new staff and things.

“The Hurricanes know exactly who they are. I’d say, the Crusaders and Chiefs are probably similar as well, and they’re the three best teams, because they know and are confident in how they play the game, and everyone knows their role, says ‘let’s go out there and do it’, and it shows on the field.“