Dane Coles

Dane Coles
Birth name Dane Stuart Coles
Date of birth (1986-12-10) 10 December 1986
Place of birth Paraparaumu, New Zealand
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 108 kg (17 st 0 lb; 238 lb)
School Paraparaumu College
Wellington College
Rugby union career
Position(s) Hooker
Current team Hurricanes, Wellington
All Black No. 1117
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2007–
2009–		 Wellington
Hurricanes		 67
100		 (90)
(45)
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)
2007
2010
2012–2017		 New Zealand U21
Māori All Blacks
New Zealand		 1
3
56		 (0)
(0)
(50)
Correct as of 21 July 2018

Dane Stuart Coles (born 10 December 1986) is a New Zealand rugby union player who plays as a hooker for the Hurricanes in Super Rugby and Wellington Lions in the Mitre 10 Cup.[1][2] He was a key member of the 2015 Rugby World Cup winning team. He captained the Hurricanes to their maiden Super Rugby title in 2016. He was widely regarded as one of the best hookers in the world at his peak.[3]

Playing career

In 2012, Coles made his All Blacks debut against Scotland.[4][5][6] He came on in the 62nd minute: New Zealand 51, Scotland 22.[7] Coles made three more appearances off the bench in 2012, earning his first start for New Zealand in 2013 against France.

Coles scored his first try against South Africa in 2014 in a 25-27 loss and had also become a regular starter for New Zealand by 2014, supplanting long-serving All Black great Keven Mealamu from the starting XV.

Coles started in the knockout rounds of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, including the final against Australia, where the 34-17 victory saw New Zealand become the first team to win back-to-back World Cup titles. Following the World Cup, Hurricanes midfielder and Captain Conrad Smith announced that he would leave New Zealand for Pau in France. Smith's departure saw Coles named as the captain of the Hurricanes for 2016.

Of Ngāti Porou descent, Coles was awarded the Tom French Memorial Cup in 2016 as the Māori rugby player of the year.[8] After scoring four tries that year, which made him the highest-scoring forward in the squad for 2016, Coles was also nominated for New Zealand Rugby Player of the Year and World Rugby Player of the Year earlier in 2016, losing both awards to Hurricanes teammate Beauden Barrett.

Coles played in the first three games of 2017 for the Hurricanes but after a concussion on 18 March, missed an extended period of time, including the drawn British and Irish Lions test series, losing his Hurricanes captaincy to dominant halfback TJ Perenara. Coles returned to play in the Super Rugby quarter final against the Brumbies, coming off the bench for Ricky Riccitelli in the Hurricanes dominant 35-16 victory. He started the following week semi final against the Lions, in which the Hurricanes lost.

After being concussed again, Coles missed the first Bledisloe Cup test of 2017 before finally returning to test rugby the following week, earning his 50th test in a 35-29 win against Australia in the second Bledisloe Cup test. Coles was retained as a starting player for the rest of the 2017 Rugby Championship despite the incredible form of Codie Taylor who had started against the Lions in his absence. Coles scored a try in the 38-18 win against France but was subbed off after 20 minutes due to tearing his ACL in what was only his 11th professional rugby game of 2017.

Coles missed all of Super Rugby in 2018 due to his ACL injury. Coles was expected to be back in time for the playoffs but was unable to run until June. Brad Shields captained the Hurricanes in 2018 in Coles' absence.

Personal life

Coles lives in Wellington, and is married with two children.

References

  1. ↑ Robson, Toby (16 April 2012). "Hooker Dane Coles joins Hurricanes faithful". Rugby Heaven. Fairfax. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  2. ↑ "Coles: Hurricanes remaining battened down" (Press release). All Blacks. 17 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  3. ↑ "All Blacks: Dane Coles: Lord of the lineout". New Zealand Herald. 2016-09-04. ISSN 1170-0777. Retrieved 2016-10-09.
  4. ↑ Napier, Liam (7 November 2012). "Hooker Dane Coles set for debut from bench". Rugby Heaven. Fairfax. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  5. ↑ Moore, Brian (9 November 2012). "All Blacks hooker Dane Coles ready to turn up the heat on Scotland". Telegraph. UK. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  6. ↑ Strang, Ben (13 November 2012). "Coles buzzing about All Blacks debut". Rugby Heaven. Fairfax. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  7. ↑ Kitson, Robert (12 November 2012). "New Zealand's Dan Carter unstoppable in six-try romp against Scotland". The Guardian. UK: Fairfax. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Burnes, Campbell (16 December 2015). "Barrett brothers our best at NZ rugby awards". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
Awards
Preceded by
Nehe Milner-Skudder		 Tom French Memorial
Māori rugby union player of the year
2016		 Succeeded by
Rieko Ioane
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