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'We get along really well': Kieran Read reveals his Bledisloe bromance with Michael Hooper
Ex-All Blacks captain Kieran Read is excited at the prospect of finally taking to the field in the Top League this weekend.
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Perhaps even more enticing for the two-time World Cup champion is that he gets to play alongside, rather than against, his former long-time rival Michael Hooper.
The pair are expected to play together for the first time in their careers this Saturday when Toyota Verblitz open their campaign against Toshiba Brave Lupus in Nagoya on Saturday.
It will be an interesting state of affairs given the two often squared off against one another as captains of New Zealand and Australia, battling for Bledisloe Cup supremacy.
Read took over from Richie McCaw as All Blacks captain following the 2015 World Cup, while Hooper replaced Stephen Moore as permanent captain of the Wallabies in 2017.
The duo went head-to-head as captains of their nations eight times and played a total of 22 internationals against each other, dating from Hooper’s debut test season in 2012 to Read’s All Blacks retirement after the 2019 World Cup.
That’s also not taking into account the numerous times both players have crossed paths at Super Rugby level, but Read has revealed he has warmed to the Wallabies skipper, who is in Japan on a six-month sabbatical.
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“A lot of the Japanese boys have been giving me a little bit of stick about it — we’ve been so used to being on the opposition side,” Read said in an online press conference.
“I guess from my point of view, the frustrating thing has been with COVID restrictions and being in a bubble. We can’t actually catch up outside of the game.
“It’s a little bit frustrating, but from what I’ve seen, we actually get along really well,” he added. “It’s probably a bit strange for a lot of people looking at it, but it’s been working well so far.”
The sight of Read and Hooper working together as teammates has been a long time coming, with the Top League initially scheduled to kick-off midway through last month.
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However, a COVID-19 outbreak within the Toyota Verblitz, Suntory Sungoliath and Canon Eagles squads forced organisers to postpone the opening round of the competition to this weekend.
Former Chiefs wing Bryce Heem has joined one of the Hamilton side's rivals for the 2021 Super Rugby Aotearoa season.https://t.co/6b7uckzKnZ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 16, 2021
Nevertheless, Read – who made two appearances in his debut season for Verblitz last year before its cancellation due to COVID-19 – believes Hooper will be ready for action at Paloma Mizuho Rugby Stadium in three days’ time.
“He hasn’t been with the side as long as we’d like but he’s a very professional player, so he got up to speed really quick and he’s got to know the guys,” Read said.
“I think he’s frustrated as well, coming over here to enjoy Japan… Not being able to enjoy that side of life at the moment is a little bit tough, but we know we’re here to do a job which is to play rugby.”
Comments on RugbyPass
An on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
11 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to comments