22 May 2014

All Blacks happy with Cruden's fitness

3:06 pm on 22 May 2014

The All Black coaches are happy with the return to fitness of first five Aaron Cruden.

Cruden broke his thumb last month, but is expected to return to action for the Chiefs this weekend against the Hurricanes.

With Dan Carter on his sabbatical, Cruden is likely to start in the three-Test series against England next month.

Speaking from the three-day camp in Christchurch, All Blacks assistant coach Ian Foster says Cruden has been catching the ball without any discomfort.

Foster says hopefully Cruden will get a number of games in before the June internationals.

And Crusaders captain Kieran Read is close to making his comeback from a concussion that's kept him sidelined for more than a month.

Read hasn't played since suffering a head knock against the Chiefs, but took part in training at the All Blacks' wider squad's session in Christchurch on Tuesday.