Kieran Read doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman.
After escaping the often intense All Blacks media bubble, Read has loosened up a little and shown a bit more of his personality, like, for example, discussing his passion for music and his favourite band: TheKillers.
He's also revealed several details about his All Blacks career and what's next after he does decide to hang up his boots.
Speaking to Newstalk ZB this week, Read named two former teammates who he says were "intimidating" during his early years.
"Probably not too many internationally actually," he said when asked about the toughest international opponents who may have put the fear of god in him. "Certainly when you come up against Jerome Kaino and Jerry Collins when I first came along, that was someone where I was like 'man this guy is intimidating'. Those two probably [are the toughest]."
Kieran Read. Photo / Photosport
The recently retired All Blacks captain is currently promoting his new biography 'Straight 8' and seems to be enjoying the relatively softball questions fired his way during his promotional media tour – at least compared to what he would've experienced at the World Cup.
While he's away from the All Blacks grind and prepares to join Japanese club Toyota Verblitz next year, Read says he hopes to get back into golf and listening to music, which he says is one of the ways he "escapes".
"I enjoy golf but I haven't been able to play it to be honest for the last few years with my injuries … I'm up and down as everyone is. I'm looking forward to getting into that again.
"Also I love music actually. It's probably the thing I escape with.
"Probably [my favourite] band is The Killers. But I love The Beatles. Tom Petty I absolutely love as well."
And what's next for the 34-year-old All Black great after he steps back from professional sport?
"I'm unsure exactly," he said. "But I do enjoy sport. I studied towards that and leadership as well. Wellbeing is what I'm interested in. So not necessarily something in sport but something around leadership would be ideal for me. I'm exploring a few different options in that area."
Regardless of what he does after he retires, Read will be proud to go down as one of the best All Blacks of the modern era – probably something he couldn't have imagined when he was young.
