Former All Blacks captain Kieran Read doubts he will return to Japan this year, but will wait and see over fulfilling the final year of his contract in 2021.

Read, who joined Top League side Toyota Verblitz after the 2019 World Cup, signed a two-year deal with the Japanese team.

However, following the suspension of the Top League due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he returned to New Zealand to be with his family.

While Read is contracted with Toyota until 2021, he admitted in an interview with Radio Sport on Saturday that has no idea whether he will return to Japan.

‘Who knows,’ he said. ‘I am contracted for next year in Japan and I guess we’ll just wait and see what happens with this virus. If it’s all gone out of the world and people are travelling around, then potentially I could be back up there.

‘Not in the current climate and with everything going on. I just want to be here with my family,’ he added on the potential of the season resuming. ‘It definitely won’t be for me this season.

‘They’re talking about playing in May which I just don’t see happening when they’ve cancelled an [event] that’s over four months away in the Olympics.

‘It’s a weird feeling knowing they’re trying to go ahead with [the season]. I think I’ll be at home until we actually know how this thing is going to play out, which will be a few months or even more down track.’

If Read does not resume his contract with Toyota, it could mean that the rugby career of the 34-year-old, 128-cap All Black could be over.

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