Flanker Van Vliet star act for Eketahuna

Dynamic flanker Johan Van Vliet was in scintillating form as Eketahuna scored a 34-16 win over a gutsy Marist when the 2012 Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby competition got under way on Saturday.

One of the finds for Wairarapa-Bush on the representative scene last year, Van Vliet was the star act in the Memorial Park fixture, invariably being first to the breakdowns, running powerfully in broken play and making his usual high percentage of tackles.

It was appropriate that Van Vliet should score one of Eketahuna's five tries with a determined burst and just as appropriate that another try scorer should be fellow flanker Rupeni Tamani, who would have pushed him hard for player of the match award.

Tamani, too, made a number of surging runs and was in the face of the Marist inside backs when the ball came their way.

Another Eketahuna forward to shine was lock Dan Udy who made his share of clean lineout takes and was a willing workhorse in the tighter aspects of the forward game, along with Adrian Lochhead and Zac Wilkie.

The Eketahuna backs were not afraid to chance their arm in attacking situations and while basic handling and passing errors halted them at times, there were promising signs, none more than the sound option taking of halfback Shane Lochhead and first-five Dayne Hopa. The latter, especially, appealed as an astute director of play with the skills to play at a higher level. Centre Mata Matatini ran strongly, seldom stopped by the first tackle.

Marist came into the match with all sorts of questions regarding their ability to compete at the top level and they would have been encouraged by an effort which saw them trailing just 20-13 at halftime.They managed just the one penalty in the second half but were always competitive enough to keep their opposition honest.

Skipper James Goodger was his usual lively self on the flank for Marist and was his team's key figure at lineout time. He also confirmed his reputation as one of the best goal kickers in the region. Big No 8 Wais Tokikiviko was a hard man to stop when on the run and halfback Jordan McDowall, midfielder Anthony Balks and fullback Daniel Gleeson stood out in the backs.

In other senior first division games Bush Sports ran in eight tries in beating Masterton Red Star 51-3, Pioneer edged out East Coast 19-16, Carterton scored a comfortable 27-10 win over Puketoi and Martinborough outgunned defending champions Gladstone 30-5.