Hansen will pick underdone Coles
STEVE Hansen says he’ll name battered hooker Dane Coles in his All Blacks squad to face the British and Irish Lions, even if he’s not ready for the opening test in Auckland on June 24.
Coles is that important to the All Blacks, that central to their plans of adding the Lions scalp to their impressive list of achievements on Hansen’s watch.
The dynamic Hurricanes hooker hasn’t taken the Super Rugby field since the March 18 defeat of the Highlanders in Wellington. Since then he has been marked absent by knee, calf and finally concussion concerns. It’s the latter that sees him still unable to train at full capacity.
Hansen said on Saturday he remained comfortable with his overall injury situation, and expected Kieran Read (fractured thumb), Jerome Kaino (minor knee surgery) and Liam Squire (thumb fracture) to all make it back in time to face the Lions. Others such as Ben Smith, Israel Dagg and Lima Sopoaga had already returned to action with their franchises.
‘‘Colesy is probably the guy who’s got the question mark about whether he’s going to be right, more from the point of view he hasn’t done a lot of training the last couple of months ‘‘ Hansen told Newstalk ZB host Tony Veitch. ‘‘He’s got an injury that takes time, so we’ll take the time with it.’’
Asked if Coles was a chance now to miss the Lions series because of his lack of rugby, the All Blacks coach indicated he wasn’t thinking in those terms.
‘‘You’ve got to be patient. Once we can start training him full bore, that’s what we’ll do. We won’t just chuck him in the deep end,’’ he said.
‘‘I’ve made one phone call just to reassure him he doesn’t have to panic, just to take his time and when you’re right, you’re right. There will be no pressure.
‘‘We’ll name him [in the squad] because he’s our No 1 hooker but if he’s not right he won’t play. He deserves to be named because he could come right and we could get him back for the first test [against the Lions], or the second test, or the third one.’’
Hansen said he was confident Coles would play some part in the series.
The All Blacks coach, who has lost just four of 68 tests since succeeding Sir Graham Henry in the top job in 20012, confirmed he and mental skills guru Gilbert Enoka had recently returned from a week ‘‘upskilling’’ with the US military, including the Navy Seals, Marine Corps and West Point academy.
‘‘We got to talk to a lot of people [who operate] in high-pressure situations and we got some real GETTY IMAGES
‘ Colesy is probably the guy who’s got the question mark about whether he’s going to be right. ’ STEVE HANSEN
good learnings,’’ Hansen said. ‘‘We’re always looking to get better and leadership is a pretty major thing in our team. Where better to go than talk to people that do it for a living.’’
Hansen notably refused to confirm he would be promoting from within New Zealand in the recently announced gap in his own management team.
With defence guru Wayne Smith standing down after the Rugby Championship, Hansen and New Zealand Rugby have started the process of finding a replacement. Highlanders assistant coach Scott McLeod is favoured to get the nod.
After joking that his long-time offsider was not ‘‘one of a kind’’ – ‘‘If you Google Wayne Smith there is probably quite a lot of them’’ – Hansen said they were clear on the type of person and skillset they were after.
‘‘He brought a certain quality to the organisation and standards and work ethic that made him who he is. He is a phenomenal coach and phenomenal coaches have the ability to create something that lasts longer than their time.
‘‘Most likely we will [replace him from within New Zealand], but you want the best people, and if that best person is from overseas then we’ll look at that person.’’