Read it & keep

He’s skipper at Richie McCaw’s Canterbury, but new All Black Kieran Read is still learning his trade and keeping his feet on the ground. Diarmuid O’Flynn spoke to him.

FROM an Irish sporting viewpoint the year 1884 carries with it huge connotations. In Thurles, Tipperary, that was the year the GAA was founded, the biggest and most influential sporting organisation in this country, by far.

1884 was also a big deal in New Zealand sport, however; on May 22, in a game against a Wellington XV, a man called James Allen became All-Black number one, and is now officially recognised in New Zealand rugby as such.