Coles: It gets serious now
IT may have been the calm before the looming Sydney storm, but comeback hooker Dane Coles says Friday night’s hit and giggle in Pukekohe ticked all the right boxes for the All Blacks.
Steve Hansen’s orangejerseyed men predictably waltzed through their now traditional preRugby Championship sighter in the form of the ‘‘game of three halves’’ at Growers Stadium, with 40 minutes each against Taranaki and Counties Manukau.
They ran in nine tries to one in thumping Taranaki 57-7 and another seven as they sashayed through the Steelers 49-0, but Coles felt the key objective had been achieved.
‘‘It was good to have a bit of a run around after a couple of weeks off, and just to get a bit of continuity and combinations amongst the boys,’’ Coles said after a night when key All Blacks playmaker Beauden Barrett was spared active duty.
‘‘It was also good just to get the lungs going again, blow off the cobwebs and get back into a bit of rugby stuff after a break.
‘‘We had bit of fun. It’s not going to be like that next week, but it’s always good to get the ball and have a bit of a go.’’
Coach Hansen appreciated the chance to get his men, minus the champion Crusaders, back into rugby mode after arrival delays had forced them to truncate preparations in Auckland.
‘‘We had one 20-minute training run, so they were never going to be perfect tonight. But there was a lot of nice rugby in there, and some good skill execution which we’ve been working on,’’