Bush continue top form

Wairarapa-Bush looked every inch a potential Meads Cup semifinalist as they despatched King Country 34-13 in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.

Apart from a flat patch early in the second half, Wairarapa-Bush were clearly the dominant team against opposition which had already claimed the scalps of the two Meads Cup grand finalists from last season, East Coast and Wanganui, in earlier games this year.

It wasn't that King Country produced a below par performance either. Their pack lost nothing on the score of endeavour and their backs were always looking to find ways through the home team's defence whenever the ball came their way.

More it was a fact of them being up against a Wairarapa-Bush side producing what would be their best all-round performance of the season, and deservedly picking up the maximum five competition points in the process.

Particularly encouraging for Wairarapa-Bush was the sting in their back play. They generally chose their options well and there was a precision about their passing and kicking which had been missing in earlier championship matches.

Wing Paul Tikomainavalu was clearly the star act, making several storming runs through the course of the 80 minutes. Invariably it took two or three defenders to halt his progress.

Fellow winger Cameron Hayton had less opportunity than Tikomainavalu to show his attacking skills but the turn of pace he showed to score his try indicated that his injury hassles could be behind him and a return to the form which won him national Heartland selection last season is imminent.

Both halfbacks used by Wairarapa-Bush, Zeb Aporo and Inia Katia, impressed with their speed of delivery and willingness to run the ball at the opposition. First-five Glen Walters was the ideal playmaker and again proved grand value with the accuracy of his goal kicking. Midfielders Byron Karaitiana and Titapu Pairama-Lewington ran strongly on attack and were assertive on defence and fullback Nick Olson was safe under the high ball and electric on the counter attack.

Tapaga Isaac in midfield and Nathan Hunt on the wing also made handy contributions when they came off the reserve bench.

Interestingly, two of the backs, Karaitiana and Olson, had separate 10-minute spells in the sin bin and their team ran in tries while they were out of the action, a clear illustration of the resolve of the home side to maintain a maximum effort no matter what the circumstances.

The Wairarapa-Bush forwards were splendidly led by skipper Johan Van Vliet who was right back to his dynamic best in the No.7 territory. He covered huge territory on attack and defence in what was a superb all-round performance, and one which must have impressed national Heartland selector Earle Kirton who was part of a reasonable-sized crowd.

Fellow loosies Johnie McFadzean - in his 25th appearance for Wairarapa-Bush - and Nathan Iro gave their captain solid support in general play and were handy options at lineout time, an area in which Lachie McFadzean, Clark Butcher and replacement Sam Marshall-Wilson also made a favourable impact.

Typifying the commitment of the Wairarapa-Bush pack were front rowers Finnbarr-Kerr Newell, Richard Puddy and Campbell Lawrence who not only buried themselves in the tighter exchanges but also found the time and energy to shine in broken play. And when Jonathan Fuimaono came off the reserves bench to replace Lawrence at prop he was quick to make an impact with his strength on the burst.

Try scorers for Wairarapa-Bush, which led by a commanding 27-3 at halftime, were Finnbarr Kerr-Newell, Byron Karaitiana, Cameron Hayton and Jonathan Fuimaono and Glen Walters added two penalties and four conversions. Stormy McCarthy and Zayn Tipping scored tries for King Country and Kurt Strachan kicked one penalty.

Results:

In other Heartland championship matches, Mid-Canterbury beat South Canterbury 34-27, Wanganui beat Thames Valley 28-8, West Coast defeated East Coast 15-11, North Otago beat Poverty Bay 53-18 and Buller beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 19-15.

Competition points with three preliminary round matches to go are: Wairarapa-Bush 20, Mid-Canterbury and West Coast 18, Buller and North Otago 15, Wanganui 14, King Country and Thames Valley 13, Horowhenua-Kapiti and South Canterbury 8, East Coast 5 and Poverty Bay 1.

Wairarapa-Bush play Buller at Westport next Saturday, which is followed by matches against East Coast at Masterton on October 5 and Thames Valley at Paeroa on October 12.

The top four sides on the competition table will enter the Meads Cup semis on October 19 with the top two having home advantage there.