Codie Taylor of the Crusaders and Dane Coles of the Hurricanes square off in the Hurricanes v Crusaders match. Photo: Photosport
Opinion - There's three things you count on in life: death, taxes and Dane Coles making rugby worth watching.
That will drop to two at the end of this season when Coles retires, but he reminded everyone of why last night in Wellington in his last ever Super Rugby home game.
It was a memorable result for his Hurricanes as they pulled off a come-from-behind 27-26 win over the Crusaders, handing the defending champs their fourth loss of the year. In the end, it actually didn't matter as whatever happened, the standings remained the same. But a game between the two natural enemy areas should never be taken lightly and Coles knew it.
He started the game by trash talking Leicester Fainga'anuku and appeared to gleefully mock the Crusaders winger's decision to cash up and go to French glamour club Toulon. Coles then got into a stink with longtime adversary and All Black team mate Codie Taylor, with the pair going toe-to-toe when the score was 19-8 to the Crusaders.
In terms of mind games, it couldn't have worked better. Taylor took the bait big time when Coles decided to congratulate the Crusaders for giving away a penalty, which took Taylor out of play while his side was on defence. Then, after the whistle blew, Coles extended his hand in a fake gesture of sportsmanship that Taylor had no choice but to accept. But the coup de grâce was a few rucks later when Taylor was sin-binned for a professional foul, the Crusaders hooker could only shake his head while Coles tapped his in a mocking gesture signifying he'd won the battle.
Coles departed to the bench shortly after, but it's fair to say this stoush actually won the war too - from there the Hurricanes scored 19 unanswered points to take the lead and close the game out.
After a week when State of Origin showed rugby union just what rivalry means, two of the Hurricanes and Crusaders warhorses went at it to remind the people in charge of marketing just how you can engage a crowd and create something memorable.
Other observations from the weekend
Christian Lio-Willie should have stayed down when Brayden's Iose shoulder hit him in the head. Fair play for the Crusaders loose forward for bouncing straight up, but if he hadn't, Iose's yellow may well have been turned into a red and he wouldn't have been on hand to score the match-winning try.
The Blues post-match demeanor after their 16-9 win over the Highlanders suggested they were just glad the penalty-ridden dirge-fest was over. But as it stands, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's 10 minutes off the bench may well be the last time we see him in a Blues jersey (or even on a rugby union field). Probably the same for Tom Robinson as well, but at least he gave a performance that asked some real questions as to why he's been overlooked for most of the season.
Well done to the Drua, who locked in a playoff berth with an entertaining 41-17 win over the Reds that also ended the Highlanders' season. It means they play the Crusaders in Christchurch next weekend, but while their first quarter final appearance is worth celebrating, the stark reality of the Drua's situation came into focus this week with the news that they are losing nine players after this season. This includes stars Kalaveti Ravouvou and Joseva Tamani, who have been instrumental in their success this year.
Massive congratulations to Moana Pasifika, who defied the odds and pulled off a memorable win in Sydney over the Waratahs. Despite it being their only victory of the season, they really never looked like losing and spoiled Michael Hooper's last home game in a blue jersey. However, it's probably not the last we're going to hear about Moana this season, with some serious questions to answer about their future viability needing to be answered.
The quarter-finals do have a pretty predictable look about them, unfortunately. The Chiefs, Crusaders and Blues will all go in as heavy favourites against the Reds, Drua and Waratahs respectively, leaving the only open-ended game being the Hurricanes and Brumbies in Canberra. However, those two put on one of the games of the season back in round 10.