Rugby World Cup: Why aren't we seeing the best of Kieran Read?

All Blacks No.8 Kieran Read in action during the side's quarter-final win over France. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Contrary to popular belief, Kieran Read has had a good World Cup. His statistics scrub up well, showing that he's been a demon at the breakdown, a big tackler, effective lineout forward and strong at kick offs.

Some may argue against a numbers-based assessment, though, citing the modern game's obsession with micro detail as a means to find convenient reasons to not stare the truth in the face.

In the case of Read, many will feel gut feel is the way to go in determining whether he's in the right head space or not and much of that will be swayed by his high profile error count.

He's not made a high number of errors - but a small number of high profile errors that have led to extreme claims being made about him being affected by his concussion battle last year.

Using a judicious mix of spreadsheet data and general observation is really the only way to draw any kind of accurate picture about Read and how he's playing.

The balanced view would be that he's almost there. He's almost playing as well as he did in 2013 when he was crowned World Player of the Year but, not quite.

The not quite relates to two things. The first is the high profile errors. Those weren't in his make up two years ago when he was the new golden child. That was the year he came of age, changing the landscape so as it was no longer just the big two of Richie McCaw and Daniel Carter - but the big three of McCaw, Carter and Read.

His hands have at times been suspect yet he's a great handler of the ball. He's missed the occasional tackle this year - most notably in Sekope Kepu in Sydney - and yet he's a prolific and destructive tackler. Next to Jerome Kaino he's the hardest hitter in the team.

There's a gremlin in the works somewhere. Nothing major or overly worrying, but enough to take the edge off his performance and leave the gut feel assessment in a more negative state than is fair or reflective of his contribution.

It's human nature perhaps to be blind to the endless good and fixate on the one strikingly bad thing.

The second piece of the Read jigsaw is missing is his offloading game in the tramlines.

That's where he set himself apart from every other forward in world rugby in 2014.

Somehow he'd be making a thunderous tackle in the middle of the field one minute, then flying down the wing the next, ball in one hand, ready to commit the last two defenders and play his wing into space.

Those try-scoring surges became his trademark and elevated the All Blacks to a different level. They haven't been prevalent, or at least not so high impact, at this World Cup or indeed at any point in this season.

Again, with no icing, or not as much, the cake doesn't look quite so pretty. It's still edible, still a good cake - just not quite the cake everyone was expecting.

And it's with Read that the All Blacks' potential biggest gain lies in the final. They have talked about the need to be at a higher level than they were last week.

They know they need greater intensity, accuracy and innovation. The onus is on all 23 to deliver that but perhaps Read is the one with the greatest upside. When he is at his best, the All Blacks are a different team. They play with more fluidity and cohesion when he's able to get his offloading game going.

There's no No 8 in the world who can do what he can do and no doubt he's been quietly composed this week, reading the endless plaudits being heaped on David Pocock.

That might be just the spark he needs to make that jump from good to great this weekend.

- By Gregor Paul in London