Don?t drop the ball boys!

Mid-Canterbury will be throwing everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at Oldfields Wairarapa-Bush in their Heartland championship rugby match at Ashburton tomorrow.
The home side very probably needs a win to guarantee themselves third place in pool A and consequently a place in the top six playoffs which kick off the following weekend so they will be leaving nothing to chance.
Wairarapa-Bush, on the other hand, have the luxury of knowing a top six berth is already sealed but they too still have plenty to play for.
Victory would see them head the pool A points table with an unbeaten record and ensure that two of their playoff games were staged at their Memorial Park headquarters in Masterton.
And with competition points from the pool matches being carried over into the playoffs it would also substantially enhance their prospects of making it through to the semi-finals.
It is interesting to compare the records of Wairarapa-Bush and Mid-Canterbury over the first four rounds of pool play.
The word from the deep south is that Mid-Canterbury are likely to adopt similar tactics tomorrow to what North Otago did against Wairarapa-Bush last weekend.
That would mean spending as little time as possible in the set pieces and relying on swift movement of the ball and the speed of their outside backs to open up holes in the Wairarapa-Bush defence.
In North Otago's case they often managed to get on the outside of their markers and into open spaces and it was Wairarapa-Bush's good fortune that only twice were try prime scoring opportunities actually turned into points on the board.
This was simply because North Otago tended to out-smart even themselves when the tryline beckoned with the ball carrier looking to beat one defender too many or wild passes being thrown A little bit of patience and they could easily have doubled their try count, maybe even trebled it.
Wairarapa-Bush coach Peter Russell is convinced his team's hassles on defence were simply caused by the three-quarters moving up too quickly and therefore exposing themselves to the danger of being left flat footed when long passes put their opposites outside them.
So the message at training this week has been for centre Simanu Simanu and wings Junior Togia and Francis Seumanutata to hang back slightly in defensive situations so that the attacking ploys of their opposition can be more easily read, and countered.
One imagines too that Wairarapa-Bush will be keen to utilise the strength and pace of that trio, along with fullback Peato Laefaele, on attack to a greater extent as well.
They have had a relatively quiet time in that respect to date this season and with the playoff games in mind it would be encouraging to see them making a bigger impact with ball in hand.
The fact that Nathan Couch has apparently recovered from the rib injury which saw him on the sidelines for the whole of the second half against North Otago is good news for Wairarapa-Bush as he has been the one player in the backline who has consistently impressed on both attack and defence in the Heartland games.
His assertive approach makes him an intimidating presence and a "must have" for Wairarapa-Bush as the serious business begins.
For inside backs Hamish McKenzie and James Bruce (who will share the halfback role) and Patrick Rimene the onus tomorrow will be calling the shots with accuracy and decisiveness, traits which need to be improved if their side is to continue on its winning way. There were times against North Otago when initial hesitancy from the insides slowed the flow of the Wairarapa-Bush attack and that has to be rectified.
Bruce has now joined that notable band of players who have racked up 50 games for the combined unions, reaching that mark last weekend.
It was the Wairarapa-Bush forwards, however,who could take most of the credit for the win over North Otago and coach Russell is optimistic that the advantage they had there in the more physical areas of the forward game will be repeated in Ashburton.
Russell is intent on having his side dominate the crucial ball-winning areas of lineout and scrum and of expressing their unity in the rucks and mauls, an area of the game in which the likes of Joe Harwood, Dylan Higgison and Mike Robinson have become increasingly prominent.
It follows, of course, that if the ":tighties" do their job then loosies Sylvanus Iro, Sam Henderson and Mike Spence will have the chance to roam wide enough to make a nuisance of themselves on both attack and defence.
They all had big games against North Otago with Iro's display being especially outstanding. It was clear notice that he has now become attuned to the responsibilities of openside flanker and he will have much bigger fish to fry in the not-too-distant future if he can maintain that level of performance.
In summary then tomorrow's game will very definitely be no stroll in the park for Wairarapa-Bush but ?and it is a big but- they would only need to play anywhere near their potential and a fifth successive win is on the cards.