‘Squealing’ Coles shrugs off praise
Praise has proved more wounding to Dane Coles than his rib cartilage injury or the painkilling injections to subdue it.
The hooker was labelled ‘‘a champion’’ by All Blacks head coach Steve Hansen on Saturday night, after coming off the bench to play a 78-minute blinder as the team beat Australia 42-8 at ANZ Stadium.
Coles was only in Sydney to receive treatment on his injury and do a bit of conditioning work. But injuries to Nathan Harris, then Codie Taylor meant the Hurricanes captain unexpectedly had to grit his teeth and play through the pain.
It certainly impressed Hansen, whose praise wasn’t missed by the rest of the team. Coles tried to play his contribution down on Monday, but flanker Sam Cane wasn’t about to let him.
‘‘It’s been blown out of proportion,’’ Coles said of his deeds on Saturday, which included scoring a try. ‘‘There’s been a lot of media stuff about it. I wish there wasn’t, to be honest, but that’s the way it is. A lot of rugby players play with injuries so I’m just doing my job.’’
Cue Cane: ‘‘You’re a champion.’’
Coles got his own back not long later when it was put to Cane that Saturday’s performance had been among his very best as an All Black. ‘‘Umm, phwoar.’’ "He told me that,’’ interjected Coles, which got them both giggling again.
‘‘I was going to have a dig at you earlier and should’ve too,’’ Cane said. ‘‘I didn’t want to go 2-0 up, now it’s 1-all.’’
Beauden Barrett wasn’t at Monday’s media session, but the first five-eighth’s presence was certainly felt. Man-of-the-match in Sydney, Barrett afterwards described Coles as ‘‘squealing’’ as he took four painkilling jabs to the ribs in order to play against Australia.
‘‘Don’t believe what Beauden says. Just a bit of grunting noise to handle the injection,’’ Coles said.
‘‘I wouldn’t say squealing from a first-five. Just a little bit of noise to get me going.’’
Coles wasn’t sure if it would take needles to get him on the park this week. With Harris and Taylor out, Liam Coltman and James Parsons have joined the squad as cover.
Coltman sounds the more likely to win a place on the bench, which would mean a test debut should he get on. Coach Steve Hansen said it was his intention not to leave Coles out on Westpac Stadium any longer than he needed to.
Coles will train with the team this week, having sat out a lot of things in Sydney. After being told he wasn’t playing, he actually would have been entitled to quite a social time over there.
‘‘I definitely wasn’t on the lash. I worked pretty hard last week. I wasn’t involved with the team stuff, I was doing a lot of fitness stuff,’’ he said.
While Coles now has some fit hookers for company, there have been additions in the backs too. Damian McKenzie, Seta Tamanivalu and Rieko Ioane have joined the squad to cover for injuries to Waisake Naholo, George Moala and Ryan Crotty.
It remains to be seen how the All Blacks cover the absences but partnering Tamanivalu or Anton Lienert-Brown in midfield with Malakai Fekitoa appears the least disruptive.