Rugby
Gladstone are fairly and squarely in the hot seat when matches in the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union's Tui Cup competition continue tomorrow.
The scenario confronting Gladstone is easy to define. Beat East Coast at Whareama and they still have a chance of making it to the semifinals a fortnight down the track. Lose and East Coast will be guaranteed a place in the top four alongside Pioneer, Greytown and Eketahuna.
Gladstone will take some confidence from their triumph over East Coast in their Kapene Cup match earlier in the season but there were only three points in it, 18-15, and it could hardly be said the best was seen of East Coast that day. So how much can be read into that result is a matter for conjecture.
With a couple of wily old foxes calling the shots from the sidelines, Steve Thompson for Gladstone and Ritchie Robertson for East Coast, the tactics the two teams employ will be interesting.
With so much riding on a victory, Thompson could be tempted to throw caution to the wind and look for Gladstone to throw the ball around in the hope gifted attackers like Inia Katia and Cameron Hayton will find the room to cut loose on a regular basis while Robertson might take the completely opposite tack and have his side keep the ball close to the forwards in the knowledge even an ugly win is good enough for them. If that's the case, he will be expecting the likes of Clarke Butcher, Joe Feast, Wiremu Grace and Ben Holmes to lead the way.
The local derby at Pahiatua between Bush Sports and Eketahuna should be a case of how much will Eketahuna win by when you analyse the form of the two teams over the 2013 season. But Bush Sports have improved enough in recent weeks to suggest it could be a lot closer than most pundits are predicting.
The physicality in the forward exchanges, in particular, will be huge as both teams fancy their strengths up front.
Pioneer and Greytown already have their semifinal places booked but their match at Jeans Street in Masterton will still hold interest as home advantage in the semis is not yet guaranteed for either side. Greytown have certainly been the more impressive of the two teams over the past couple of weeks with big wins over East Coast and Carterton but Pioneer are always a tough nut to crack on their home ground and a smart punter would be keeping their money in the pocket here.
Marist have won by default from Martinborough who have been forced out of the remainder of the Tui Cup series after a devastating spate of injuries which has seriously eroded their playing resources.
Tomorrow's draw is:
Premier division: Bush Sports v Eketahuna, Pahiatua at 2.30pm (A Payne, G Moorcock and home team); East Coast v Gladstone, Whareama at 2.30pm (S O'Gorman; G Reisima and M Ford); Pioneer v Greytown, Jeans Street at 2.30pm (A Stringer; P Baucke and L Price).
Senior reserves: Bush Sports v Eketahuna, Pahiatua at 1pm (G Moorcock); East Coast v Gladstone, Whareama at 1pm (G Reisima); Masterton Red Star v Marist, Colombo Road at 1pm (P Baucke); Pioneer v Greytown, Jeans Street at 1pm (P Thompson); Tuhirangi v Martinborough, Pirinoa at 2.30pm (G Hall).
Secondary schools: Wairarapa College first XV v St Bernards, Wairarapa College at 1pm (D Goodin; B Whale and L Price); Kuranui first XV v Onslow, Kuranui College at 1pm (E Wallace).