Hurricanes prepared to wait for Coles

Dane Coles will be given as much time as possible to prove his fitness ahead of the Hurricanes' Super Rugby semi-final against the Chiefs.

Hurricanes skipper Coles suffered a rib injury in last weekend's 41-0 victory over the Sharks in the quarter-final, the 29-year-old leaving the pitch early in the second half.

Speculation has suggested he will not be ready to play in the semi-final, however the Hurricanes are hopeful their talismanic captain can make an impressively swift recovery.

Head coach Chris Boyd revealed Coles will be given until the day of the match to be ready, the forward having been named in their unchanged squad.

"Colesy is doing everything he can to get himself fit in time for kick off, but at the end of the day we just won't know until a little closer to kick off," said Boyd.

"We are hopeful he'll make it to the start line, but if he doesn't we have every confidence in Ricky [Riccitelli] and Leni [Apisai] to do the job for us as they have done all year.

"Whoever goes out there on Saturday knows we are in for a really tough test because the Chiefs are a quality team."