Kieran Read due to return in April after wrist surgery

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) All Blacks captain Kieran Read has undergone wrist surgery and will not return to Super Rugby until April, two months before next year's tour by the British and Irish Lions.

Read will likely miss the first five rounds of the 2017 Super Rugby season as he recuperates from the surgery which was performed last week. He has relinquished the captaincy of the Christchurch-based Crusaders to his test teammate, lock Sam Whitelock.

If Read returns on schedule in early April, he could play seven Super Rugby matches before the three-test series against the Lions begins in June.