All Blacks: Read next in line for top job

Kieran Read was one of the few who dug deep against England in last week's test. Photo / Getty Images

All Black No 8 looks every bit the captain-in-waiting with his positive influence in the heat of action.

The man anointed by Richie McCaw this week as a future All Black captain might not have the (c) next to his name yet, but every test he plays he looks more like a leader.

With 27 test caps to his name, 21 of them as part of a starting XV, Kieran Read is no longer an apprentice, though he still has a touch of the new-boy-in-class awkwardness about him. That is mainly off the field and in front of the cameras though. On it he looks the part.

While perhaps not the dominating powerhouse he was during the Tri-Nations, where he comprehensively outplayed Pierre Spies and Richard Brown, Read has still been one of the most influential All Blacks on tour.

Against England, he scored a try from the back of the scrum when New Zealand were making hay and was one of the few to successfully button down his game when the going got tough in the second half. Rather than being disconsolate at his side's inability to expand on positions of dominance in the past fortnight, Read sees only positives.

"We just know we can play better. That's exciting," he said. "There's some pretty positive stuff. We were making lots of breaks, it's just holding on to that pass one extra time and building the phase that can lead to more tries.

"We're pretty confident we can get it right this week."

The 25-year-old, who hails from Counties but has made his name in Canterbury, has added a barrel chest and a bundle of kilograms to his frame since making his debut in Scotland two years ago. That bulk has not come at the cost of any fine skills: while not possessing a Zinzan Brooke-like range of skills, his handling and passing game has become more deft, more subtle.

Eighteen months ago it seemed inconceivable that there would be a challenge anytime soon to match the all-round game of Spies. If anything, his closest rival was shaping as his countryman, Ryan Kankowski. But if the Tri-Nations was anything to go by, Spies has regressed while Read was imperious.

There is an element up this way who view the Tri-Nations as a slightly faux type of test rugby where the icing comes before the cake. The sort of shift Read put in against England will go along way to dispelling that myth while also showcasing the potential McCaw sees in him as a captain-in-waiting.