Rugby: Cool, calm ... and ready for big win

Highlanders’ hooker won’t have dad there but he’s confident southerners’ game plan will triumph in Sydney.

Liam Coltman is not getting ahead of himself. The Waratahs - and their big, bristling forwards - await, but the Highlanders hooker and his team are staying calm.

Coltman, 25, knows it is a big match - probably one of the biggest of his career - but he sees no need to reinvent the wheel just because it is a semifinal tomorrow night.

"We just need to stick to our game plan and do what we know we do best," he said. "It is just another game. If we stick to what we do then things will come right."

Coltman is a key part of that plan, and after a year to forget last season, the hooker has rebounded well.

He is hitting his jumpers - such an important part of his job - and also getting round the field, running the ball up and making the tackles.

Coltman does not make it complicated. After all, his job in the front row is no-frills stuff.

"I'm just having fun. That is all it is - just focusing on what I have to do. I've worked on a few different areas."

He had spent many hours on his lineout throwing since last season and it seemed to be getting results. Assistant coach Tony Brown had helped him, getting the right balance when throwing and getting into a routine.

Coltman said the Highlanders were excited about the Sydney semifinal and had to keep up the momentum gained over the past few weeks.

"We just have to fine-tune a few things and we'll be right. Last week, with the crowd, it was unbelievable. It helped the boys get up and stay there."

The Waratahs will be just as physical if not more so than the vanquished Chiefs but the bushy-bearded hooker is ready.

"They're a big side all right, and a good side as well. I'm absolutely pumped. We just need to stick to what we do and play our game."

Coltman, who has signed with the Highlanders for another couple of years and will play for Otago this year, was in the All Black frame last season but missed out this year.

Coltman will be without his No1 supporter in the crowd tomorrow.

His father, Tom Coltman, drives from his Taranaki farm to all corners of the country following his son. But he and his booming voice will not be in Sydney.

"Dad has not got a passport, so he can't make it. He's seen nearly all of the games so far. He loves it." Otago Daily Times