Rugby: Canes' Cooper plans to finish on a high

Hosea Gear of the Hurricanes fends off Daniel Kirkpatrick. Coach Colin Cooper says they've lacked ruthlessness. Photo / Getty Images

At times, emotion will help win rugby games, but it is not a consistent weapon. It is well down the list of artillery coach Colin Cooper wants to encourage this season as he works through his eighth - and final - campaign with the Hurricanes.

"It has got to be business as usual and a little better," Cooper said in his trademark low-key manner.

Three campaigns ago, Cooper watched his side buckle under the emotional weight of Tana Umaga's farewell appearance in the round-robin match against the Waratahs.

"We want to get discipline and accountability all through the campaign, we do not want the peaks and troughs you can get with too much emotion," he said.

"That will serve you at times but we need to be better than that. We want to have patience, character and maturity. We want to have that ruthless edge - and that has been our frustration.

"We have played so well at times, but then let other teams into matches. We have some immense talent in the squad, this is a multi-cultural group and there are those challenges of bringing them together socially and as a rugby unit."

Cooper has that experience. He was Taranaki head coach in 1999, NZ Colts coach in 2001, assistant at the Crusaders the next year, Junior All Blacks co-coach, and Hurricanes supremo from 2003. Since then he has guided the side to five semifinals and one final, but no trophy celebration.

He recalls his frustration about using the draft too much in his early years with the Canes and his fortune that the franchise kept faith in his ability to turn the results around.

"Since then we have been able to build the team and stay with the real core of players. We have put really high demands on them and they have responded," said Cooper.

Originally, after this campaign, Cooper thought he might test his coaching clout in Europe.

It seemed like a good time for a change before others got wind of that idea and appealed to his Taranaki connections.

A looseforward from the Clifton club, Cooper was a regular for Taranaki and NZ Maori sides in the early-80s. With plenty of family in the area and a growing collection of grandchildren, he reconsidered and will be back in amber and black after the Super 14.

He says he's not scaling back his career, just taking a pause, because he still has the hunger to go as high as he can in the coaching world.

With usual skipper Rodney So'oialo taking a bit of time to get back into shape, hooker Andrew Hore has been promoted. He will bring some serious snarl to his teammates if they neglect the tight five work where the Hurricanes have been erratic.

"We have been lucky to have most of our All Blacks back with us and that experience and attitude should be a huge factor," Cooper said.

"We have some pretty exciting players, but we can't be a contender for the title if we don't have a tight five which does the job. That group plus halfback and first five-eighths are crucial components for any side's hopes of success."

The injury roster is expected to clear Rodney So'oialo, Jeremy Thrush and Anthony Perenise in time for the side's three-match trip to South Africa.

PLAYER TO WATCH: AARON CRUDEN

It had to happen. Cruden's work last year in the global under-20 tournament and his continued sharpness in the national provincial championship meant a Hurricanes place for the five-eighths who had fought back from cancer in mid-2008.

Cruden captained the national age-group side to their international crown and enhanced that promise when he sparked Manawatu in handing a number of rivals an NPC shake-up. The 20-year-old showed poise in his role as backline director, a keen tactical eye and the sort of feel for a game which suggests he has a strong future.

Experienced coach Colin Cooper will nurture Cruden, making sure he gets enough experience steadily at this next level without asking too much too soon of the talented yet inexperienced five-eighths.

Cruden has been trying to stack a few more kilos on to his 79kg frame to withstand the increased volume of rugby he faces this season.