On the eve of the Bledisloe Cup, All Blacks captain Kieren Read has given evidence in the trial of a security guard accused of lying about finding a bug in the team's hotel room last year.
Read gave evidence via telephone from the Intercontinental Hotel in Double Bay, where the New Zealand team also stayed last year and where they are undergoing their final preparations for tomorrow night's match.
He told the Downing Centre Local Court Adrian Gard had been "pretty honest and loyal in what he does" and described him as "a pretty good man".
The case centres on a claim that a covert listening device was found inside a chair in the All Blacks' meeting room in the days before last year's opening Bledisloe Cup match.
Gard, an experienced security guard, has pleaded not guilty to making a false claim to police by reporting the bug had been found.
The court previously heard that the All Blacks only decided to alert police about the bug five days after its purported discovery, once they knew the story was going to break in the media.
Gard faces a year in prison and a $5,500 fine for public mischief if found guilty.
The device is one of the cheapest and simplest small bugs available, known as the RBFM600, and was made by an Australian technician.
It was purportedly found inside a conference room chair.
The prosecution alleges "the device was never in the chair [but] the accused made it up".
Read said he had known Gard since 2009 and saw him once or twice a year for week-long stints when the All Blacks hired him for security.
The All Blacks defeated the Wallabies 42-8 in last year's Bledisloe Cup, just 12 hours after the details of the listening device emerged publicly.
The trial continues.
