Dane Coles has shed some light on the fiery post-match moment between him and Pablo Matera last month, saying there was "no apology" for the incident either.
Coles was enjoying being out and about with fans during a public training session in Nelson today when he was asked about the moment from the 53-3 win over Los Pumas in Hamilton.
"Ha, I knew that was coming," Coles told 1News when asked about it.
In a memorable moment, Matera shoved Coles as the veteran Kiwi player offered his hand after the match before moving on to shake hands with other All Blacks.
"I'm not going to go into details, there's been enough carry on and rubbish thrown in a the media and so on but for me, what happens on the field stays on the field," Coles said.
"I'm always going to put my hand out and shake the players hand and obviously he felt disrespected but that's just footy. Stuff happens on the field and I've been copping it and that's just the way it is.
"I'm pretty keen to move on to be fair."
Speaking to James Marshall on the What a Lad podcast last month, Matera said Coles was targeting him throughout the match with continuous chatter.
"He just continued picking on me in every ruck and every scrum, saying some things that really hurt, some strong things," he said.
"I don't want to repeat it, but I couldn't understand why. They were winning by 40 points, he just came on … I didn't understand his attitude.
"I know he's a great player and I know he's a great guy as well, because his teammates spoke to me after the game and said 'he's a good guy', and I said 'I'm sure he's a good guy'.
"But I just didn't understand why he continued picking at me and he said things I'm sensitive about, like me being in New Zealand … 'You don't belong here'."
Coles added there was no apology from either side after the moment either.
"No apology - it happened and that's just the way it is."
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