Highlanders pack no pushovers
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Hurricanes hooker Dane Coles says that his side will not make the mistake of underestimating the unheralded Highlanders pack.
Although the Highlanders do not have one All Black amongst their forwards, the front eight have played a vital role in their push to the final.
Despite not having many big names up front, the Highlanders were dominant up front in their semifinal against a Waratahs pack with hundreds of Test caps.
The defending champions were terrorised in the line-outs by the Highlanders forwards who managed to lay a platform for their deadly backline to take advantage of.
While the Hurricanes may start as favourites in a home final after topping the log, Coles knows that they cannot take anything for granted against the hard-working Highlanders forwards.
"When you have people who write you off the only way to go about your business is to prove people wrong," Coles said.
"I know the guys around here have a huge amount of respect for those guys. I've played with Ash Dixon, Brendon Edmonds, Mark Reddish, those guys are just quiet grafters who go about their work."
"When you have guys like that working for each other the whole 80 minutes, you can defeat any pack. They pretty much beat up a Wallabies pack, so we have a huge amount of respect for those guys," he told stuff.co.nz.
The All Blacks hooker admitted to feeling the nerves already ahead of what will be the first-ever Super Rugby Final in Wellington.
"I had a bit of a sleepless night last night. I need to make sure I stay calm… I think it's just letting it boil-up inside. It's so much excitement because it's something this franchise has been building toward for a long time. It's just taking it day by day," he said.
After packing the stadium out for the semifinal win over the Brumbies, Coles is looking forward to playing in front of another sell-out crowd.
"I looked around the whole ground and I've never seen that [a full house]. I remember being a spectator as a young fella, but it actually brought a massive smile to my face seeing the stadium packed out. I'm sure we'll get the same crowd if not better this week.
"We've been working hard since as long as I've been in the side to get the public back on our side and the only way you can do that is through results. We've done that, so to get the public on our side, filling up that stadium, it definitely makes a difference," he added.
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