GREATER BULK: James Wall (right) will be at training this week. PHOTO/FILE
STATISTICS told a story in Wairarapa-Bush's 16-18 loss to North Otago in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
The strength of their kicking game was expected to be one of the home team's major attributes but, it was probably their greatest Achilles heel.
Wairarapa-Bush kicked 27 times and their failure to make those kicks count is evidenced by North Otago still winning the territorial battle by 68 to 32 per cent.
"We did not kick well. I don't think there's any argument there," Wairarapa-Bush head coach Josh Syms said. "Too many of the kicks achieved nothing other than to give the ball back to the opposition without any pressure on them. We clearly wasted too much possession in that respect."
Syms says Wairarapa-Bush also made it too easy for the North Otago pack to get early momentum into their drives from lineout play.
"We did manage to disrupt a few of their throws but, generally, we weren't competitive enough in that area. We tended to let them take the ball down and get a roll on before we got in among them, and that was too late. We need to be pro-active rather than reactive in situations like that."
The character and resolve shown by Wairarapa-Bush in their goalline defence pleased Syms but he said there were numerous occasions when they shouldn't have been placed in that position.
"We needed to have that same resolve when we were looking to make tackles further up the field, we missed too many of them," he said. " We put ourselves under unnecessary pressure, and again that's something we need to work on."
The bonus point they picked up for finishing even or less points from the winning side left Wairarapa-Bush in fourth-equal place on the Heartland points table. Defending champions Mid-Canterbury are making the pace with 9, and then follow North Otago 8, Poverty Bay 7, Wanganui and Wairarapa-Bush 6, King Country, South Canterbury, Thames Valley and West Coast 5, Horowhenua-Kapiti and Buller 4 and East Coast one.
This weekend Wairarapa-Bush travel to Westport to take on Buller, who have had a mixed start to their 2015 campaign after making it all the way through to the Meads Cup final in 2014. They were beaten 21-7 by West Coast in Greymouth on Saturday after beating King Country 32-20 in their opening round fixture.
Syms wasn't giving any secrets away but it wouldn't surprise if he and assistant coach Wayne Roache did make some changes to their starting line-up from that which initially took the field against North Otago.
Former Wellington ITM lock, James Wall, was unavailable for that game but will be at training this week and the temptation could be to use his greater bulk to boost the middle row. He had a brief stint with Wairarapa-Bush last season. If Wall is to lock then the in-form James Goodger could possibly go to flank, a move which would perhaps add to the mobility and physicality of the loose trio.
In the backs, the return from injury of Byron Karaitiana means he will probably be in the reckoning for a midfield role and the same could be said for Robbie Anderson, who has not long returned from overseas after performing usefully for Wairarapa-Bush in the 2014 Heartland competition. Defence is his strong point and that is something Syms and Roache will need to consider.
Meanwhile, previous Wairarapa-Bush coach Mark Rutene has been named head coach of the Hurricanes under-19 Barbarians squad which will play Wellington, Manawatu and Hawke's Bay in the Central Region Shield tournament over the next month. There are no Wairarapa-Bush players in the squad but the team manager is Wairarapa identity Justin Herbert.