Kieran Read's career in numbers

Kieran Read announced on Wednesday that he is to retire from New Zealand duty after the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The All Blacks captain will play his last season in Super Rugby for the Crusaders before moving to Japan to join Toyota Verblitz.

Having played for the national team during the most successful period in their history, winning back-to-back World Cups in 2011 and 2015, Read will be remembered as a true All Blacks great.

Here, with the help of Opta, we take a look at some of the best facts from a glittering career.

118 - Read's 118 caps for the All Blacks place him joint-third in New Zealand history and 14th overall in Test rugby. His predecessor as captain, Richie McCaw, tops both lists on 148.

43 - Read has played 43 of his Tests to date as skipper and is the 66th captain of the side.

130 - Read could potentially play another 12 matches, which would see him pull level with former Ireland fly-half and current Crusaders assistant coach Ronan O'Gara on 130 - eighth on the all-time list.

4 - Read (101) is one of only four players to win 100 Test matches, along with fellow All Blacks McCaw, Keven Mealamu and Tony Woodcock.

19 - His run of 19 consecutive victories as All Blacks captain from 2012 to 2016 is a record.

25 - McCaw is the only forward from a tier one nation to have scored more international tries than Read.

14 - Read is one of three players to have played 14 matches against a single opponent and win all of those games, achieving the feat against Argentina. McCaw (v Ireland) and O'Gara (v Italy) are the other men on that list.

145 - Read has made 145 appearances for the Crusaders, putting him level with McCaw in fifth on the Super Rugby side's appearance list.