Coles warned to cool it

TEMPER: Dane Coles. PHOTO/GETTY IMAGES

ALL BLACKS hooker Dane Coles is likely to be told to cool it following his fiery display for the Hurricanes against the Crusaders.

Coles was at his competitive best in the 29-23 victory in Wellington last weekend, which kept his team at the top of the Super Rugby table when he took the field as a replacement in the second half. It was his first match in eight weeks after the hyperextension of his right elbow but he showed little rustiness in a typically all-action performance.

The All Blacks coaches, who have watched as several of his teammates in the national team have succumbed to injury, including Aaron Cruden, Beauden Barrett, Jerome Kaino, Brodie Retallick and Charles Piutau, will have been quietly satisfied to get one back on the right side of the ledger.

Coles was, however, involved in several flare-ups and was told at least twice to calm down by referee Mike Fraser. It is this aspect of his game which will raise a red flag again and, according to a New Zealand Rugby source, the 28-year-old will be reminded to keep a lid on his temper.

Coles, who has quickly risen to be the All Blacks' first-choice hooker due his physicality, pace and ball skills - with his core set-piece roles - was in the spotlight last November when he was sinbinned for lashing out with his foot in the test against England at Twickenham.

His opposite Dylan Hartley was the instigator, as he so often is against the All Blacks and in fact any team he plays, but Coles took the bait and, after he reacted, referee Nigel Owens had no choice but to show him a yellow card.

It is this short fuse which concerns many about Coles, especially with a World Cup approaching. Even coach Steve Hansen admitted at the time Coles' discipline could become an issue.

"He fell to a sucker punch didn't he?" Hansen said then. "They were at him for a big part of the game. He will learn a lesson, hopefully, because we can't afford in a tournament like the World Cup to lose a hooker for four or five weeks. If he had mistakenly got someone in the chops with that boot, he would be home."

And yet, there is also a feeling among those high in the New Zealand game that it is this compulsion to play right on the edge which makes Coles so good, and with the former great Bismarck du Plessis having issues with form and discipline himself, a case could be made for Coles to be considered the best hooker in the world.

The worry is that if Coles tones it down too much he will lose that edge and will not be the player he is.

It is a juggling act, and with Coles now a fair way ahead of Keven Mealamu, and with Nathan Harris considered the third hooker but only now nearing a return following his ankle injury late suffered last year, it is an important one for Coles and the All Blacks.

NZME.