Clubs urged to fly true colours

Doug Bracewell is on a mission.
The community rugby administrator for the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union wants every club and school around the Wairarapa-Bush region to have their team colours shown on the world stage as part of the celebrations for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which kicks off in September.
To that end they, along with the local referees association, have been asked to have their players, coaches, referees and volunteers sign two jerseys depicting their club or school colours, one of which will appear in the tournament festivities and the other which can be kept and displayed in the own clubrooms or school.
The Sign Your Jersey initiative is just one of many being promoted under the NZRFU"s Rugby Legacy Programme which is aimed at not only boosting interest in the World Cup but also the number of players, coaches, referees and volunteers taking an active role in the sport. Local clubs and schools need to send their jerseys to Bracewell at the WBRFU headquarters at Memorial Park by April 29.
On the local club rugby scene most interest this weekend will probably centre on the clash between the two unbeaten sides in the premier division competition, Eketahuna and East Coast, at Eketahuna.
Whoever wins this game will immediately become the favourite to take out the Chris Kapene Memorial Cup which goes to the leading team at the end of the first round and their tactics will probably be polar opposites.
For Eketahuna it will be a case of dominating the forward battle where the likes of Campbell Lawrence, Brendan Walker, Daniel Griffin and Rupeni Temani should take the limelight.
East Coast, on the other hand, will know that if they can win just a reasonable share of quality possession then the pace and flair of backs of the calibre of Dan Porter, Nic Olson, Byron Karaitiana and Zeb Aporo will almost certainly give them the edge.
In Porter, Karaitiana and Olson East Coast also have the luxury of having three proven goal kickers and if a close finish results their expertise in that area might well be the deciding factor.
Memorial Park No1 is back in action this Saturday and Marist and Greytown will feature there. On paper and form you would expect Marist to win comfortably but Greytown have been making steady improvement after a slow start and they are quite capable of upsetting the applecart.
Gladstone are at home to Pioneer in what should be a high scoring affair considering that both sides are likely to give the ball plenty of air.There was a lot to like about the way Pioneer despatched defending champions Carterton last weekend but while they played well they were the beneficiaries of a lacklustre second half by the maroons. One suspects they won't get the same help from a Gladstone side wanting to keep their own Kapene Cup aspirations on an upward spiral.
Martinborough and Masterton Red Star will play at Martinborough and this should be an interesting game with the evenness of the two teams on paper suggesting that the end result will come down to who is the most clinical in their finishing work.
An individual highlight should be the duel in the loose between two of the best openside flankers in premier division play, Jared Hawkins (Martinborough) and Chris Senior (Stars).
Featherston and Puketoi will be both eyeing their match at Featherston as a prime chance to record their first wins of the season and that will add extra sting to a game in which a torrid forward battle seems guaranteed.
Having the home advantage might just be enough to give Featherston bragging rights although it would be a risky punt. On the college rugby scene it will be a case of all roads leading to Wairarapa College tomorrow with their first XV up against the touring Queensland Schools side in a game kicking off at 2.45pm.
Little is known of the strength of the visitors but they should fully test a Wairarapa College side still very much in preparation mode for their 2011 campaign.