Dane Coles and Cody Taylor’s tempers boil in tense Super Rugby matchup

Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles said candidly under the stands at Sky Stadium. “Sometimes you have to be a little bit of an asshole.”

The retired All Blacks have taken it upon themselves to involve the opposition during games. Hurricanes beat Crusaders 27-26 in what is likely the last home game in Wellington on Saturday.

Crusaders coach Scott Robertson said it certainly worked. Coles nearly got into a fistfight with the Crusaders against Cody Taylor until umpire Brendon Pickerill stepped in, but he insisted it was “not personal.”

Coles just wanted to give the team a competitive edge.

Coles forced his team to take a penalty in the 48th minute, but Taylor seemed irritated by the verbal abuse of his opponent’s jersey number.

They were nose to nose, and Coles raised his fist, but neither punched nor punched.

Pickeril called the pair together as the two continued to exchange abusive rants. “Are you done or do you want me to deal with it?” I heard Pickeril say.

Both coming out of Holofenua Kapiti, the two shook hands and continued, but Taylor was shunted off again by Coles as he trotted away after receiving a yellow card.

“I always talked to Cody after the game, even though we had a little bit of an issue,” Coles said.

“It was just the heat of the fight. Hurricanes vs. Crusaders. Nothing personal.

“They are 11-time champions and we haven’t done anything. It’s only been a week and I tried to play because I wanted to win.

“They have to be a bit of a jerk at times because they are such a quality team.

“I just tried to do my best for the team. That’s who I am, that’s my nature. You can lose, you can win, but we won tonight.” It’s nice to sit back and find out that we beat the Crusaders in our last home game, because it doesn’t happen very often.”

Down 16 points after half an hour, the Hurricanes fought back to take their first win in five years over the Crusaders in Wellington.

Robertson admitted the team took the bait and allowed Coles to get into their heads.

“He did. We talked about it and it was a little frustrating. I think we bit him and got him under the skin,” said Robertson.

“It was a good finale. He’s been doing it for years. We knew it was coming, so we embraced it.”

Coles took off his shorts when he arrived for post-match media duties, but said he didn’t mean to be “a bit of a threat” The last time he went to Sky Stadium.

But when the Hurricanes trailed 19-3, he decided to “get out of business.”

“I tried to keep the players positive and give them a little more energy. Sometimes I had to go to the place, but I also have to do my job. I also have a scrum and just the ball. I could not only throw in, but I could throw in the ball. ”

Coles, replacing Jacob Debery, left the field in the 55th minute to a standing ovation from some of the crowd. He gave the fans a round of applause and was greeted with a hug from the bench.

A fierce man who participated in 139 games, People who have announced that they will retire at the end of 2023returned from injury in the nick of time and said goodbye to his hometown.

Coles was suffering from a concussion and was due to return from last weekend’s game against the Blues, but suffered another setback when he pulled his calf in training.

Coles made an emotional entrance with his children, but said he didn’t want to make a big deal about saying goodbye in Wellington because he was worried about making it to kick-off.

“Honestly, I’m surprised I survived the week. It was a little frustrating at times and a bit of an emotional roller coaster,” he said.

Coles, who was sent off to a standing ovation, briefly appeared on the field after Braden Iors’ game-winning try in the 74th minute before sprinting again. The coach was greatly disappointed.

Mr. Coles explained what had happened. He said he was ordered out on the field by the referee to tell his team how much time was left in the game because the stadium clock had stopped.

“The clock had stopped and said 64 minutes, and the referee said, ‘Can you tell the team that there are six minutes left?'”

“He gave me permission to keep telling them. But the referee told me It was a shambles. ”

Despite beating the Crusaders, the Hurricanes are unable to move up from fifth place and will face the Brumbies in the quarterfinals next Saturday night.

The Hurricanes lost to the Brumbies in the same stage of last season’s finals.

“It’s always nice to go further, but we have to go back another week.

“Last year we went there with a lot of confidence and it took a toll.

“It’s important to enjoy tonight and not get too carried away, but to come into Monday with a little motivation to go to Canberra and take a break.”