Enough to suggest dark horse tag for Heartland title

The execution wasn't all what it might have been but Wairarapa-Bush could certainly take encouragement from
their 26-21 win over Horowhenua-Kapiti
in their non-championship rugby match
at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
In what was their final hit-out before the commencement of their Heartland campaign next weekend, the intensity of play from the home side could not be faulted and it provided them with a handy advantage both in terms of territory and possession.
And with that advantage came several prime scoring opportunities, enough for them to secure a victory of sizeable proportions.
In fact, when they went to the
halftime break 23-7 ahead
despite their usually reliable goal
kicker Byron Karaitiana missing three penalties from close range and a certain try being "bombed" when wing Junior Togia dropped the last pass with no one to beat, a big win did seem a real possibility.
That it didn't happen was a combination of two factors, Horowhenua-Kapiti scoring a couple of tries - one in the final minute - rather against the run of play and Wairarapa-Bush again struggling to turn their scoring chances into points on the board.
Not through any lack of purpose but simply because of passes either not being made to unmarked players or spilled at vital times.
Indeed all Wairarapa-Bush had to show for their efforts in that second 40 minutes was a penalty goal, a frustratingly poor return when you consider the high number of attacks they mounted.
Be that as it may, however, there were enough pluses in the Wairarapa-Bush performance to suggest they could well be the "dark horses" of the Heartland championship.
No one could quibble, for example, at the assertiveness shown in the forward exchanges, particularly in the mauls and at the breakdowns where several turnovers were created.
The urgency and commitment
shown by the loose trio of Joss
Tua-Davidson, Jared Hawkins
and Duncan Law was outstanding with Tua-Davidson, in particular, utilising strength and good body position to snaffle a lot of opposition ball in the tackle situation. He would clearly have been a front runner for any player of the match award.
Skipper Kurt Simmonds was an effective forager of possession in the mauls, along with fellow front rowers Jared Brock and Richard Puddy, and Simmonds also starred in several rampaging bursts in broken play.
In the set pieces Wairarapa-Bush
clearly had the edge in the scrums
and while the lineouts were something
of a mixed bag in the first half the
combined efforts of Cory Reid and Andrew McLean enabled them to win most of their own throws, and even some of the opposition's, in the second spell. Reid was good value in the mauls too and found time too to make some telling tackles on cover defence.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs went into this match with question marks hovering over their attacking qualities and, happily, they produced their most convincing display of the season in that regard ... and that without their usual kingpin Byron Karaitiana having one of his better games at first-five.
Perhaps his inconsistency in the goal-kicking department - he did land one penalty from halfway - rubbed off in other areas for it was strange to see Karaitiana being so indecisive in his option taking, and having a couple of clearing kicks charged down.
Mind you, he was due an indifferent game after being a star act in most of the other non-championship fixtures.
At halfback Nick Risdon was an absolute livewire for Wairarapa-Bush, constantly harassing his opposite number around the fringes of the scrums, intelligently choosing when to kick or run and shirking nothing on defence.
Throw in a quick and accurate pass and you have a fine all-round effort from Risdon.
Combining for the first time in midfield were Sam Mitchell and newcomer Siaosi Anamani and there was a lot to like about the way they went about their work with Anamani making at least three clean breaks and scoring a fine try for good measure.
His was a very handy debut by any standards.
Wings Junior Togia and Tommy Harmon both had ample chances to show their attacking skills and they invariably made good ground but in different ways.
Togia was all nifty footwork while Harmon preferred the more direct route. Togia will, however, rue that golden try scoring opportunity which he "bombed" in the first half.
There was some impressive running too from Nick Olson at fullback.
Seldom was he grounded by the first tackle.
He was also solid under the high ball and made at least one try saving tackle.
Joss Tua-Davidson and Siaosi Anamani were the try scorers for Wairarapa-Bush with Byron Karaitiana kicking four penalties and two conversions.
Horowhenua-Kapiti, for their part, would not have been too disappointed with the final scoreline considering they spent a good period of the game in defensive mode. They will, no doubt, be hell bent on revenge when the two teams meet again in Levin next month on a match in which Heartland championship points will be at stake one can assume continually changing personnel won't be part of their tactical approach there as it was this time round.
The main curtain-raiser match on Saturday saw a plucky Wairarapa-Bush under-20 side beaten 34-7 by their Manawatu counterparts after trailing 24-7 at halftime. It was a gutsy effort from Wairarapa-Bush against opposition with a big advantage in height and weight.
Front rowers Lance Graves and Aki Hehare were standouts for Wairarapa-Bush up front and Matt Hollis and Jesse McGilvary were the pick of the backs.
The two JAB finals at Memorial Park were thrilling affairs with Gladstone-East Coast staving off a second half onslaught from the Rams (Masterton Red Star) to win the under-13 match 29-22 and the Rams defeating Pioneer by 12-10 in the under-11 encounter.