The All Blacks are vowing to support teammate Scott Barrett, who's now in doubt for the Rugby World Cup tournament opener after a red card against South Africa.
Barrett, 29, was shown two yellow cards in the All Blacks' record 35-7 defeat to the Springboks at Twickenham, and was sent off for the second time in his test career.
But, as the All Blacks' focus shifts towards Paris, with the Rugby World Cup opener on September 9, Barrett's involvement is now under a dark cloud.
As World Rugby cracks down on ill-discipline before the World Cup, Barrett could potentially become the latest player to feel the wrath of the judiciary.
Already, England have seen captain Owen Farrell and No.8 Billy Vunipola banned for red cards, while former All Black George Moala is likely to miss the entire tournament for Tonga, after he was banned for five weeks.
The only potential saving grace for Barrett comes in the shape of him being sent off for two yellows, as opposed to a straight red.
Not helping Barrett is the fact that he was red carded for a shoulder charge on then-Australian captain Michael Hooper four years ago.
Regardless of what awaits him at the judiciary though, the All Blacks will do all their best to make sure Barrett has the appropriate support from his teammate.
"Obviously Scooter will be disappointed," said Coles. "He's his own [harshest] critic.
"I feel for the big fella. He never goes out with intentions to get yellow carded. [We'll] get around him. I'm not sure what the process is with the red card.
"He's still an important part of this squad going forward, and he's a great man. We'll get around him.
"He's my roomie, actually. I'll check in on him tonight and make sure he's alright."
Losing Barrett couldn't come at a worse time for the All Blacks either.
Ian Foster's men are already without Brodie Retallick to a knee injury, while Shannon Frizell - who was also selected to cover lock - is out with a hamstring issue.
Should Barrett be ruled out, only Sam Whitelock and Tupou Vaa'i would be left standing as senior, available locks in the World Cup squad.
But rather than make any plans for if and when Barrett is ruled out, Foster is happy to let proceedings play out.
"I'm not sure," admitted Foster. "We'll have to see what the process is.
"He got yellow carded for it. It looked like he was cleaning [out] the guy on the left, and hit the guy on the right.
"We'll see what comes out of it. We'll just go through the process.
"Am I expecting to [lose him]? I don't know. We'll just see how we deal with that."
