‘Yeah, tough’: All Blacks coach Ian Foster’s difficult call to end Dane Coles’ Rugby World Cup dream

Rugby World Cup final: All Blacks v Springboks. Where: Stade de France, Paris. When: 8am Sunday (NZT). Coverage: Watch live on Stuff (with te reo commentary option), Sky Open and Sky Sport 1 from 6.30am.

All Blacks coach Ian Foster’s heart must have shrivelled into his ribcage when he delivered the bad news to hooker Dan Coles at the team’s base at the Paris Country Club this week.

Telling players they have been dumped, especially when they are fit and their form has not been poor, is one of the horrible parts of being a rugby coach.

But to do it to a player as popular as Coles, who will retire from the game after the Rugby World Cup final against the Springboks at Stade de France on Sunday morning (NZT), must have made Foster wish he could shrink into the wallpaper.

The selectors’ decision to start Codie Taylor in the front row, and use Samisoni Tauekei’aho as an impact player off the bench to counter the Springboks’ “Bomb Squad”, meant Foster had to tell Coles he would have to watch the game from the stands.

Everyone in the All Blacks’ set-up likes Coles.

His persona as a likeable rogue, a bloke who emerged from being a rough diamond to being one of the respected members of the squad, lifts the spirits.

There is no doubt the passionate Coles would have loved to add one more test cap to the 90 he had tallied since his debut against Scotland in Edinburgh in late 2012, but it wasn’t to be.

“Yeah, tough,” Foster said in reference to dumping Coles. “That was a tough one. Probably the toughest I have had as a coach.”

Foster said Coles didn’t have a tantrum. Although he must have felt deeply disappointed, and possibly angry, Foster indicated he accepted it with dignity.

“The way that I would have expected him to,” Foster said when asked how Coles coped with being told he was unwanted. “He’s a champion.”

The 36-year-old Coles’ last game in the black jersey was in the 28-24 win over Ireland in the quarterfinal a fortnight ago. He took the field in the dying minutes as a replacement for Taylor.

Experienced tighthead prop Nepo Laulala, meanwhile, must have felt like dancing.

He has the chance to end his international career on a high. Laulala, who will play for French club Toulouse after the tournament, has been listed ahead of young thruster Fletcher Newell on the bench as the All Blacks signal they want their old heads to blunt the force of the Springboks’ forwards.

This will be Laulala’s 53rd test. He hasn’t played since the final pool game against Italy three weeks ago.

During this tournament, Foster, who will also finish-up once the World Cup is over, has shown he can be calculated and cold-blooded when making big calls.

He, along with the senior players, elected to eject in-form wing Mark Telea from the team to play Ireland in the quarterfinal because he had broken protocols.

It is understood Telea had returned to the hotel on the outskirts of Paris well after curfew.

Leicester Fainga’anuku started in the No 11 jersey in the absence of Telea and scored a try. The following week, for the semifinal against Argentina, Foster brought back Telea at the expense of Fainga’anuku.

Foster made just one change to his run-on team, promoting Brodie Retallick into the second row in place of Sam Whitelock.

The latter, who will become the first person to appear in three men’s finals when he takes the field, has been named in the reserves.