Stand up and take a bow Wairarapa-Bush coach Kelvin Tantrum, whose side were on the receiving end of a 60-6 thumping by Poverty Bay in their Heartland championship pool B game in Gisborne on Saturday.
Unlike some coaches who blame the referee, the interpretations of the laws, the wrong options their
side took, the chances they blew, Tantrum hit the nail on the head when he said "we got beaten by a very good team today".
"We didn't play badly, they scored some great tries."
He was right. Trailing 15-3 after 13 minutes, Wairarapa-Bush dominated possession and territory for the next 27 minutes.
On one occasion just before halftime, with forwards prop Kurt Simmonds, flankers Rupeni Tamani and Joss Tua-Davidson and locks Brandon Young and Andrew McLean leading the charges, they strung 12 phases together as they camped inside the Bay's 22.
Only resolute defence stopped them from scoring what would have been a well-deserved try. In the end Wairarapa-Bush had to settle for a penalty from first-five Jeremy Te Huia, his second.
It all started to go wrong for the Bush when Bay loosehead prop Colin Hovell scored close to the posts in the 45th minute, with fullback Kahu Tamatea converting. Ten minutes later the score was 48-6 as the Bay backs cut loose. Fijian winger John Stewart scored two, giving him hat-tricks in successive games, while loose head prop Stan Williams added to his first half five-pointer.
"We didn't make it hard for ourselves, Poverty Bay made it hard for us," said Tantrum when asked if his side had made qualifying for the Meads Cup hard for themselves.
The score was Poverty Bay's highest against Wairarapa Bush, easily eclipsing the 37-14 and 30-5 defeats in 2004. The Bay also retained the Jeremy David Memorial Cup.
"This cup means a lot to us," Bay coach Grainger Heikell said.
Scores:
Poverty Bay 60 (John Stewart 3, Stan Williams 2 Colin Hovell, Whaimotu Craft-Chemis, Lloyd Gabriel, Murray Hewson tries; Kahu Tamatea 6 cons, pen) Wairarapa-Bush 6 (Jeremy Te Huia 2 pens) HT: 15-6.
