Coles is on way back — but it’s one step at time
The Hurricanes expect to see Dane Coles back out on the field at some stage in the Super Rugby season, but exactly when is anyone’s guess.
Coles has been sidelined with a calf injury since mid-March, and is set to miss his sixth straight match when the Hurricanes host the Rebels tomorrow night.
Coles has spent plenty of time nursing injuries in recent years and in the hope of getting him back on the paddock, Hurricanes coach John Plumtree said the club was taking a different approach.
“I’m putting absolutely no pressure on Colesy, and I don’t want him putting pressure on himself,” Plumtree said. “Holding him back’s not easy, trust me. He’s the type of character that just wants to get going. He’s pretty frustrated and annoyed, but we’ve been through that now it’s just a case of if we see you in a couple of weeks — great, if we see you in three weeks — great, if we see you in a month — great. We definitely want to see him again and we will, but we want to make sure there’s no time limit on it.
“He has to make sure that when he comes back he’s feeling really good and that he can play a part for the rest of the year hopefully without re-injuring that calf muscle.”
Asafo Aumua will again don the No 2 jersey against the Rebels, with Ricky Riccitelli on the bench. Beauden Barrett takes over as captain with TJ Perenara observing his second All Blacks rest week, giving Richard Judd his second start of the season at halfback.
After an impressive performance against the Chiefs last time out, Jordie Barrett remains in the No 15 jersey, with Chase Tiatia on the wing. The two have both moved in and out of the fullback role for the Hurricanes this season and, despite the competition heading towards the business end of the year, Plumtree was yet to make a decision on who was the team’s fulltime fullback.
“Jordie’s happy in the midfield or happy at fullback. Chase Tiatia’s done really well, so we’ve got a couple of choices to make in that regard; a lot of that we base around who we’re playing as well.
“It’s good to have Jordie playing in both those
positions really well.”