Dane Coles: 'I’m not going to be an ex-player that kicks up a fuss'

Sitting in a car in Funabashi fielding a media Zoom call as the late afternoon Japanese daylight gave way to dusk wasn’t what Dane Coles envisaged happening in February 2024. His script had been long written: he was to retire from playing as soon as the All Blacks’ campaign at France 2023 ended. However, a call suddenly came asking the 37-year-old for one last hurrah.

Dan Cron, an old coaching buddy from his Hurricanes days, wanted to know if the 90-cap Test hooker was willing to enlist for the whole of the Japan Rugby League One season with the title-defending Kubota Spears after they lost Malcolm Marx, the Springboks hooker, to injury on the World Cup training ground in France.

Yes was the reply and so, not long after the All Blacks agonisingly lost to South Africa by a single point in the final in Paris, Coles re-routed to Japan for a very unexpected adventure that this weekend sees the Spears taking on the touring Super Rugby Chiefs in a cross-border exhibition.

“It’s huge,” he said about welcoming some familiar faces from Hamilton to Chiba. “You saw last weekend the Panasonic boys getting up and giving it to the Chiefs. I've been really impressed with the level of rugby here, it’s awesome… it’s a winning product.”

So how did it come to this, Coles being waved off into retirement as the All Blacks broke up in France only for him to rapidly re-emerge some days later as a new Japan League signing? “Shortest retirement in history,” he laughed, speaking from his driver’s seat on Tuesday with training over for the day.

“I only had a couple of days. Dan Cron, who is a Kubota coach, was my Hurricanes coach for about 10 years and he was the one that hit me up. It’s all a new experience. I have never done anything different, I have always been in New Zealand.

“I’ve brought my family over, so I have got three boys, and it’s one of the best enjoyable seasons I have ever had. Just completely different. The Jap boys, South African boys, the Aussie boys, it’s just a great environment to be a part of. I’m really enjoying it. A bit more downtime. We had a couple of weeks off, so you get to explore. This is one little adventure for my family, but I’m glad I did it. It’s been a real positive.

“I was straight into it, running around in Kubota. I haven’t really had time to reflect (on no longer being an All Black). It’s done, career is done. Gave it all I got. Just happy I have my time in Japan and I can reflect when I retire in a couple of months. Proud of what I did but I’m not one to look back. Life carries on and I’m enjoying my time in Japan.”

The rugby Coles has encountered is different, to say the least, from the style he knew in Super Rugby. Not only is it tough on the lungs, but he also got a first-day hurry-up at the scrum. “I’ve been loving it as a front-rower tipping in where I can with the front rows and the hooker, but the beauty of the thing is you are actually learning as well because the game is so different over here as a front-rower.

“They scrum differently, so I’m learning a lot as well. They are keeping you on your toes. I got a bit of a touch-up my first game at scrum time by Yamaha, so it was quite a good introduction to Japanese footy… I’ve found maybe less kicking, a lot more running/using the ball which is awesome.

“Physicality is up there but a lot of teams like to use the ball. You’re not smashing into brick walls; everyone is willing to have a go and use the ball a lot more. You have got to be a lot more fitter, which is good. It’s a great brand of rugby.”

So great that Coles chuckled he should have moved to Japan much earlier. “I should have done it years ago,” he quipped concerning how invigorating he has found League One. “It’s good for your skill set but it’s also probably good for your body too. You get a bigger break, and it’s a great place to live. It’s great for your family and your body.

“You're going to see a lot more of it [New Zealand players moving] because it's such a great lifestyle in Japan. You see a lot of the Africans are doing it and going back to play international footy. I reckon you're going to see a lot more (overseas players). It’s a great way to develop your game, and just great to play with a lot of different players from around the world as well.”

Not that it has all been plain sailing away from the pitch. “My first meeting getting used to the translator; I was, ‘What’s going on like?’ There was so much energy from the Jap boys. It’s such a really enjoyable environment. We’ve had a couple of nights out, a few drinking games, stuff like that. I've loved it.

“Many of the guys are not professionals. They just work for the company and the appreciation they have to play footy, they are real humble and I have learned a lot from them. It’s been a great experience and hopefully there will be a few more nights out with the Jap boys and the team to enjoy.”

It was 2009 when Coles debuted in Super Rugby, a competition that has had its troubles in recent years. “Super Rugby needs something different,” he reckoned. “We have seen over the last couple of years, I would say it’s not surviving but it’s gone down a little bit.

“Something needs to happen, especially in the New Zealand market. It’s become a little of the same old. The players are not thinking like that, they want to get stuck in and do well for their clubs. But a lot of the people over here, from watching the European league, I was never concerned five, 10 years ago.

“But now with Six Nations, European Cup, the way the game is going over there, it’s got to be global. We need to be pioneers and think of ways to do things to make our game better because it’s probably not at the standard we want at the moment.

“So some kind of exposure over here, something that is not in the middle of the (Japanese) season; they can still keep the foundation of Japanese rugby and Super Rugby isn’t coming and taking over: some sort of championship, a couple of teams every year playing a competition would be nice, but I still think the foundation and what they have got here in Japan needs to remain strong as well."

Coles’ Super Rugby concerns don’t extend to him making headline observations about the All Blacks only picking New Zealand-based players, the sort of restriction that could see Japan-based Richie Mo’unga potentially change allegiance to Tonga in time for the 2027 World Cup.

“He’s pretty keen to maybe try for Tonga from what I have heard. I don’t think he is pretty keen to play for New Zealand for the next couple of years, but there have been talks about changing the eligibility rule in New Zealand. I’ve got no idea. I’m out of the saddle now.

"I’m not going to be one of these former players that kicks up a fuss and says it how it used to be and all that. The governing body in New Zealand will sort out what is better for them to pick the best team. I’ll just stand back and watch. It’s got nothing to do with me now. That’s up to Richie and New Zealand rugby to sort out and get the right things in place.”

His stance is similar regarding incoming boss Scott Robertson. “He has got great coaches to get the right game out of them. Leon MacDonald, Jason Ryan is staying, Scotty Hansen, that’s the crucial part, having great support, but international footy is a different ball game.

“He [Robertson] had great success (with the Crusaders) but they are going to have to find their feet and I suppose it’s a new era for the All Blacks, a lot of new guys. It’s exciting. I’m really excited as a fan to watch and see how they go. My heart will always be with that team. I’ll just leave Scott Robertson up to it and do his thing.”

Coles felt more comfortable commentating on the state of the game coming out of the World Cup in France, a tournament that included a final where the All Blacks lost skipper Sam Cane to a first-half red card.

“You look at some of those World Cup games, they were probably some of the best games you have ever seen. It’s probably the consistency. People would be on a high from watching a game like that and then the next one go, ‘This is crap’.

“So if we can have a real consistent approach with the refs or the TMOs, then you are going to get a real consistent fanbase and people are going to want to watch it week in, week out. That’s the marker we need to think about but it’s definitely there; I reckon we saw some awesome games during that World Cup. But there were games determined by certain things; that was frustrating. That’s the way I saw it.

“I know the refs are trying to make the right calls but the delays, that was the frustrating part I reckon watching. I was in the stands a bit towards the end (of the tournament), so that was the frustrating part, the cards, the slowing down, trying to get every little bit exactly 100 per cent.

"And the abuse the refs were getting was obviously pretty shocking. People want to see a game that’s not determined by cards, I suppose. No one goes out to intentionally get red-carded and hit head-on, stuff like that.. but it’s just the way it was.”