Coles blow for Hurricanes
Coles suffered a calf strain near the end of training on Wednesday and will not feature in the opening round encounter in Canberra.
Coles missed the Hurricanes' pre-season matches due to a hamstring string and was looking good to lead the side – in fact he was initially named as captain – till Wednesday.
Scrumhalf TJ Perenara will now captain the, with Leni Apisai coming off the bench to start in the No.2 jersey and Ricky Riccitelli joining the replacements.
Despite Coles' absence, the Hurricanes side still features six All Blacks and five debutants.
Coach Chris Boyd has named a strong back row to combat an impressive Brumbies forward pack.
All Black Victor Vito will start alongside Brad Shields and Ardie Savea, forming a potent loose forward trio with plenty of Super Rugby experience.
Rugby League convert Ngani Laumape and Vince Aso will be tasked with filling the boots of All Black legends Ma'a Nonu and Conrad Smith in the centres, making up two of the five debutants in the side.
Laumape and Aso will be surrounded by All Black talent in a superstar Hurricanes backline that would be the envy of almost any team in World Rugby.
Perenara starts at scrumhalf alongside Beauden Barrett who gets the nod at flyhalf. The two have formed a world-class halfback combination since debuting together in 2012.
Julian Savea and Cory Jane will start on the wings for the Canes. Savea has scored 38 tries in 41 caps for the All Blacks, proving himself to be one of the world's deadliest finishers out wide.
They will be joined by fullback Nehe Milner-Skudder, one of the breakout players of the 2015 Super Rugby season.
Milner-Skudder took the competition by storm with his electric footwork and pace, which earned him a call up to the All Blacks Rugby World Cup Squad.
Hurricanes: 15 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Vince Aso, 12 Ngani Laumape, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara (captain), 8 Victor Vito, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Brad Shields, 5 Mark Abbott, 4 Blade Thomson, 3 Jeff Toomaga-Allen, 2 Leni Apisai, 1 Reggie Goodes.
Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Loni Uhila, 19 Vaea Fifita, 20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Otere Black, 23 Willis Halaholo.
Date: Friday, February 26
Venue: GIO Stadium, Canberra
Kick-off: 19.40 (21.40 NZ time; 08.40 GMT)
Referee: Stuart Berry (South Africa)
Assistant referees: Rasta Rasivhenge (South Africa), Lourens van der Merwe (South Africa)
TMO: Johan Greeff (South Africa)
