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Dane Coles set for Hurricanes return against table-topping Sharks

New Zealand hooker Dane Coles. Photo / Getty Images

Dane Coles has been named in the 23-man squad set to take on the Sharks at Sky Stadium this Saturday.

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It’s the first home game of the 2020 season and comes off the back of a 26 – 23 win against the Jaguares in Buenos Aires.

Coles, who returns from injury, will start the game on the bench, but says he’s excited at the potential of getting in some game time.

“It’s been a while, but I’m feeling in good nick. I have been working hard to get back out there and I’m looking forward to having a run.”

He says coming back in time for ‘Opening Night’ is exciting.

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“We love getting out there in front of our fans at Sky Stadium. Home games are pretty special.”

TJ Perenara will captain the side, which remains largely unchanged from last weekend.

Vince Aso will replace Billy Proctor at outside centre, while Scott Scrafton makes a return to the forward pack. In the loose forwards, Reed Prinsep will start at number 8 with Gareth Evans moving to openside, while Vaea Fifita makes his first start of the season.

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Jackson Garden-Bachop gets his second start in a row at first-five with Fletcher Smith back on the bench.

Head coach, Jason Holland, says it’s a competitive environment in the team.

“We have an excellent squad. Whoever gets their opportunity this week needs to take it as there are a lot of boys lining up to get a crack.”

The Sharks have scored more tries against the Hurricanes than any other South African side.

In a matchup last year, the Hurricanes walked away with a 30 – 17 win – but Holland says it’s always a tough encounter.

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“The Sharks are a physical side with a big kicking game – not too dissimilar from the style the Springboks adopted to win the World Cup. They’ve got a back three who will take opportunities we give them.”

– Hurricanes Rugby

Hurricanes: Jordie Barrett, Wes Goosen, Vince Aso, Ngani Laumape, Ben Lam, Jackson Gardon-Bachop, TJ Perenara (c), Reed Prinsep, Gareth Evans, Vaea Fifita, Scott Scrafton, Isaia Walker-Leawere, Tyrel Lomax, Asafo Aumua, Fraser Armstrong. Reserves: Dane Coles, Pouri Rakete-Stones, Alex Fidow, Liam Mitchell, Du’Plessis Kirifi, Jamie Booth, Fletcher Smith, Billy Proctor.

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Flankly 1 hour ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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