Bustling Buller more than a handful

Buller will very likely attempt to use the same recipe for success against Wairarapa-Bush in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton tomorrow as West Coast did a fortnight ago.
The Coasters largely relied on the ruggedness and mobility of their pack and the tactical nous of experienced first-five Corey Simpson to deservedly pull off what was widely considered an upset victory and, from all accounts, Buller have the ammunition to play a similar style of game.
Their forwards are said to be all hustle and bustle and in 34-year-old first-five Nathan Thompson they have a player who has performed great deeds in their opening two Heartland games , being named man of the match in the 18-17 win over South Canterbury and slotting a 40m dropped goal game late in the game to earn Buller a 16-16 draw against Horowhenua-Kapiti. That after they trailed by 16-0 at halftime.
Those two results make Buller, along with North Otago, the only unbeaten teams in pool B of the Heartland series but they actually sit in third place on the points table, behind North Otago and none other than Wairarapa-Bush,who have already benefitted hugely from the bonus point system.
They picked up the maximum two in their loss to West Coast and then another one against South Canterbury to give them a total of seven, one more than Buller and West Coast and just two less than North Otago. Bringing up the rear are Horowhenua-Kapiti with two and South Canterbury with one.
What the first two weeks of play have shown, however,is there is very little difference in standard between the five teams below North Otago (who again look the obvious favourites) and that the battle for the two remaining spots in the premier playoff section, the Meads Cup, will almost certainly go right down to the wire.
That being the case both Wairarapa-Bush and Buller will be approaching tomorrow's game with a "must win" attitude as the team which loses will most definitely be placing their Meads Cup aspirations in jeopardy.
Nullifying the influence Thompson has on the game will obviously be a prime objective for Wairarapa-Bush and there will be no surer way of doing that then dominating the forward exchanges.Deprive him of a steady supply of quality ball and his impact has to be lessened, doesn't it?
The onus then will be fairly and squarely on the Wairarapa-Bush tight five to call the tune in the crucial ball-winning areas of scrum and lineout, and in the rucks and mauls as well The combination of front rowers Kurt Simmonds, Joe Harwood and Dylan Higgison and locks Tomasi Kedrabuka and James Measor have the collective skills to meet that challenge and their response will have a huge say in the end result. It will also be important to the Wairarapa-Bush cause that loosies Mike Spence, Jared Hawkins and Mike Wilson are on the ball with their defensive work around the fringes of the mauls as Buller, like West Coast, will very probably look to launch most of their attacks from there.
On the subject of defence Wairarapa-Bush needs to note too that in their win over South Canterbury, in particular, Buller apparently scored a couple of good tries through swift movement of the ball after being awarded the short arm penalties which flow so freely these days because of the ELV's.They have a couple of speedsters on the wing in the form of Kevin Moore and Fijian Mitieli Kaloudigibeci and Wairarapa-Bush will want to keep a wary eye on them whenever penalties of that kind are awarded.
The home team will also be keen to make full use of their own three-quarter line in an attacking sense.Centre Jordon Watene continues to grow in confidence and wings Charlie Walker-Blair and Junior Togia have the mix of speed and strength which makes them so dangerous when given room in which to move.
All three are potential match winners and the more opportunity they get to show their paces the better.
Important too for Wairarapa-Bush will be the partnership between Mike Hollis and Patrick Rimene at halfback and first-five respectively with Hollis's relative inexperience sure to be seen as a possible weakness by the Buller loosies who will be working overtime to find any chinks in his armour.
In Rimene's case he will not only be wanting a strong performance from a tactical viewpoint but in the goal kicking department as well.In a match as close as this is likely to be it wouldn't surprise if the latter became the deciding factor.
The Wairarapa-Bush line-up for a match kicking off at 2.30pm is:Peato Lafaele; Charlie Walker-Blair, Jordon Watene, Mike Shaw, Junior Togia; Patrick Rimene; Mike Hollis; Mike Spence;Jared Hawkins, Tomasi Kedrabuka, James Measor, Mike Wilson; Dylan Higgison, Joe Harwood, Kurt Simmonds.
The Heartland championship fixture will be preceded by three curtain-raiser matches, the first of which will see the Wairarapa-Bush under-16s playing Manawatu at 11.30pm.Start time for the Wairarapa-Bush B v Wanganui B match will be 12.55pm and kick off for the Wairarapa-Bush under-20s v Horowhenua-Kapiti match is at 1pm.