All Blacks captain Kieran Read is not expected to make his first appearance in Super Rugby for the Crusaders for another three weeks, the team says. Read and fellow All Blacks forward Sam Whitelock had already been granted an extended break that will keep them out of the first four weeks of the competition with an eye to keeping them fresh for the Rugby World Cup in Japan later in 2019. All Blacks hooker Codie Taylor has also been kept in cotton wool for the first three weeks of Super Rugby, although none of the three has really been required with the Crusaders unbeaten after the first three weeks. “Reado is two or three, probably, weeks away,” Crusaders assistant coach Jason Ryan said in Christchurch on Monday. “We are not 100% sure yet. We will just see how he goes. He is back into his training” Ryan admitted that the decision to keep Read sidelined was a mix from the Crusaders and All Blacks. “A bit of both,” he said when asked who had the final decision. “We can’t sort of say mu...

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