'Dying breed': All Blacks need to find next Coles-like antagoniser

Retiring Hurricanes legend Dane Coles sparked his side into life against the Crusaders with his confrontation play, firstly going after wing Leicester Fainga’anuku before getting under the skin of rival Codie Taylor.

In what was essentially a redundant final regular season game with both sides playoff spots secured, ex-All Black wing Jeff Wilson explained all of a sudden the contest turned into a ‘war’ with Coles turning up the heat.

That was catalyst for a momentum swing in the Hurricanes favour, who came back from 19-3 down to take a 27-19 lead and eventually the win by 27-26.

“I was there right, 10 minutes into that game, because there was nothing riding on that contest other than Dane Coles’ last game at Sky Stadium in Wellington,” Wilson told Sky Sport NZ’s The Breakdown panel.

“All of a sudden once he started the niggle, the game was on. A game that had no context in Super Rugby Pacific in 2023 turned into an old-fashioned Hurricanes-Crusaders war and battle.

“And I don’t think the Crusaders needed it, but they got it. And I tell you, it was massive for the Hurricanes.”

“This is Dane Coles at his very best.”

The ability to turn a match on its head and raise the intensity through on-field niggle was becoming a ‘lost art’ with players like Coles a rare breed in New Zealand.

The All Black hooker was infamously involved in an on-field spat with Los Pumas flanker Pablo Matera last year who was just the latest player to get riled up by Coles.

With the No 2 likely to retire after this year’s World Cup, the All Blacks don’t have another player like him coming through the ranks.

All Black prop Angus Ta’avao agreed that there is not any players coming through who have that ability, labelling Coles a ‘dying breed’ of old school players.

“I think he is a dying breed, there is not that sorta bloke [coming through],” Ta’avao said.

“He’s old school, he’s cut from that cloth, he’s got those throwback videos with that long hair.

“Who’s there, who’s next?”

Wilson believed that the next generation did not have it in their ‘DNA’ and the All Blacks were destined to lose that type of player in the future.

“I’ll say he’s right on the edge in this game,” he said of Coles’ performance against the Crusaders.

“He is right on the very, very edge. I don’t think many referees have to deal with this often anymore at this level.

“He was niggly, he created a lot of angst in this game.

“I don’t see another out there, it’s the DNA. I don’t think it’s the way these [next generation] players approach the game.

“He’s a deep, deep competitor and he’s done it very well for a long, long time. He’s the last of the throwbacks to that generation.”

Ex-All Black No 8 Steven Bates loved what he saw from Coles against the Crusaders and put it down to a pure competitive desire to help his team.

“You don’t see stuff like that anymore and why I like it is, the reason why he’s doing it,” Bates said.

“All he’s trying to do is get an edge, that’s all he’s trying to do. Just trying to get an edge over his opposition.

“At the end of the day, you play sport at this level to win.

“In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with that and it worked for him.”

The only other type of player in New Zealand with that sort of ability to get under the skin of the opposition was Chiefs’ lock Brodie Retallick, who is also departing following the Rugby World Cup.

Ta’avao explained that guys like Retallick are a huge asset to play with and are nuisance for the opposition.

“When I played against him, he was one of the most niggly players. The talk, the niggle, the little pushes,” Ta’avao explained.

“Back in those days, the Chiefs, I guess that’s what they lived on.

“But playing with him, it’s someone you love to have on your team.

“You love to have that guy, he’s physical, he’s in your face. The beauty about the Guzzler is he backs it up. He follows that up and it fuels his game.”