Coach reads the riot act after loss

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum guarantees there will be a few talking points when his team to play Buller in the first of the Heartland championship matches in Westport are named later in the week.
The straight-talking Tantrum was "terribly disappointed" with the form of some of his players in the 34-12 loss to Wellington Samoans at Memorial Park on Saturday with a handful of them likely to be relegated to the B squad as a consequence.
"Quite frankly there are a few who have to have a good look at themselves," Tantrum said. "We won't be mucking around. If they aren't prepared to do the hard yards through the Bs, then we aren't interested in them, end of story."
Tantrum was making no excuses for Wairarapa-Bush squandering an early 12-0 lead against the Samoans. He agreed the opposition was of the expected high calibre but was adamant his team should have played much better. "The first 30 minutes was actually okay but the rest was awful, that's all you can say about it," he said. "You simply can't excuse that sort of performance. We didn't only let ourselves down, we let our supporters down too."
It was the inability of his team to stick to the game plan which frustrated Tantrum most. Essentially it required them to keep possession close to the forwards and attack around the fringes of the mauls with the idea of committing the opposition loosies before spreading the ball wide and it worked well when adhered to.
Only trouble is that didn't happen for the last 10 minutes of the first half and all of the second, that despite the fact the importance of following the game plan had been reinforced at the halftime break.
"It was like the lights went out, everyone started to beat to a different drum and all our systems broke down," Tantrum said.
"Mentally we just weren't there and we can't afford for that to happen again. We are into the serious stuff now and that means knuckling down and playing thinking rugby. It's as simple as that."
Leading into the Samoans match, Tantrum was anticipating a good performance there providing numerous headaches in selecting the starting line-up for the Buller game this Saturday and the one silver lining in what transpired was that it helped clarify his mind as to who were up to the task and who weren't.
"Yes, it's definitely made the selection process easier in that we have been able to count out certain players who might have been expected to be in the mix," Tantrum said.
While Tantrum wasn't giving any secrets away as to who will initially take the field for Wairarapa-Bush in Westport, the odds are that the two Wellington-based loan players who were unable to front up against the Samoans, loose forward Mana Fairamo and wing Junior Togia, will be there.
The third Wellington loan player, first-five Jeremy Te Huia, made his debut for Wairarapa-Bush in the Samoans and while there were blemishes in his effort he may have done enough to earn himself a starting spot as well.
Also possible is Wairarapa-Bush fielding a fourth "import", this one being selected under the origin rule which allows them to choose one player who received their early rugby tuition here but are now resident outside the region.
Tantrum said he was in the process of considering a player under that particular rule with a decision one way or the other likely to be made within the next 24 hours or so.