But first he has a job to do - in front of more than 29,000 people and for the good of the country.
The All Black No 8 made a mercy dash back to Christchurch last Friday night as wife Bridget went into labour.
Read was in Wellington preparing with the All Blacks to take on Argentina when he got a call from his wife, saying the time had come.
He made a mad dash to the airport, jumped on the plane and headed for Christchurch.
But as fast as the plane travelled, Read unfortunately missed the birth by 10 minutes.
"It is kind of tough getting the call, trying to shoot down. She did not quite hold on. The baby has been born. I pretty much walked in," he said.
"But it was amazing, just fantastic."
The baby was born at 7.50pm last Friday and Read got to spend the night with the new daughter the couple have called Eden. They already have another daughter Elle (20 months).
Eden arrived 11 days early.
After a night with the new addition to the family, Read jumped on a plane last Saturday morning to get back to Wellington, only to be waylaid by the weather.
"The direct flights were not going to Wellington, so I had to catch a flight to Auckland and then went from there. I got back in about three that afternoon."
Read said it was pretty straightforward to get back into rugby mode when he got back to Wellington.
"It was not hard to concentrate. Once I got into the routine, back at the hotel, I was thinking about the game."
Read played his part in the All Blacks victory over Argentina and then spent the following couple of days back with his family in Christchurch.
"I spent a little bit of time with her and had a few cuddles."
He re-joined the team on Tuesday and was all set for the game against the Springboks tomorrow night.
He will be back home in Christchurch on Sunday to join his wife and two daughters.
But before then his sights are set on 15 men in green at Forsyth Barr Stadium tomorrow night.
"You expect a massive test up front. It is not hard to switch back on. We're pretty comfortable about what we need to do."
Read (26) has become one of the key men in the All Blacks in the past couple of seasons.
He has turned up all over the park, running the ball up hard and making big hits on defence.
Despite that impressive form, he believes he can get better.
"I'm pretty happy with the way it is going but I could probably go a step up. Overall, I want to be a really dominant player, with ball in hand and in defence."
