Character and resolve were a hallmark of the 25-15 win secured by Wairarapa-Bush over King Country in their Heartland championship match at Taupo on Saturday.
Down 15-6 at halftime and struggling to get any continuity into their game through a plethora of simple passing and handling errors Wairarapa-Bush looked in dire straits against a more accurate King Country side.
"We probably knocked the ball on seven or eight times, we just didn't seem to be able to retain possession," Wairarapa-Bush head coach Mark Rutene said "It was pretty average stuff."
The stern message given to Wairarapa-Bush at the halftime break was to focus on doing the basics well especially on protecting the ball and they responded splendidly, scoring three tries themselves while keeping King Country scoreless.
The first try was scored by Inia Katia after he was moved from halfback to wing to replace Cameron Hayton who took a knock and was forced to leave the field. And he looked right at home there, invariably leaving a couple of defenders behind him whenever he had the ball.
The second try came after Glen Walters, who had gone from fullback to first-five, made the initial break and Nick Olson finished things off. Olson started on the wing but went to fullback when Walters changed places.
The third and final try for Wairarapa-Bush was a brilliant solo effort by loose forward Tom Fleming who found himself in space and raced 40m to the tryline.
Walters completed the scoring for Wairarapa-Bush with two conversions and two penalties and those 10 points took his tally for the Heartland championship to a remarkable 102 in just six games, five of which Wairarapa-Bush have won.
Fleming and fellow loose forward James Goodger were standout players for Wairarapa-Bush up front with Goodger showing no signs of the injury which had kept him sidelined for most of the previous month. Prop Wilba Davies and Jim Temo also impressed with their powerful running in broken play.
Like their forwards the Wairarapa-Bush backs were a more potent force in the second half with Matt O'Connor providing a quick and accurate service at halfback, Walters calling the shots astutely at first-five and Jesse McGilvary at centre and Katia on the wing both looking dangerous on attack.
Coach Rutene was delighted with his team's second half performance. "We had a good look at ourselves at halftime and were a lot more precise in how we played," he said. "We held on to the ball and took the game to them, it was just what we needed to do.".
Their latest victory kept Wairarapa-Bush at the top of the competition table, along with Wanganui. They both have 22 points but breathing down their necks on 21 points are South Canterbury, East Coast and Buller. North Otago have 15 points and then come Poverty Bay 12, Thames Valley and Mid-Canterbury 11, Horowhenua-Kapiti 9, West Coast 8 and King Country 7.
To make the Meads Cup semifinals Wairarapa-Bush will need to be in the top four at the end of the qualifying round, in which there are still two series of matches to be played. They confront North Otago at home next Saturday and then travel to Levin to take on Horowhenua-Kapiti.
Saturday's results: East Coast 53, Thames Valley 38; South Canterbury 52, Poverty Bay 33; Mid-Canterbury 29, West Coast 24; Wanganui 39, North Otago 22; Buller 34,Horowhenua-Kapiti 16.
The full draw for next Saturday is: Thames Valley v Poverty Bay, Wairarapa-Bush v North Otago, Mid-Canterbury v Horowhenua-Kapiti, Wanganui v Buller, East Coast v King Country, West Coast v South Canterbury.
And for those who like to delve deeper into their crystal ball the October 13 draw is: King Country v Wanganui, South Canterbury v Mid-Canterbury, North Otago v Thames Valley, Buller v West Coast, Horowhenua-Kapiti v Wairarapa-Bush, Poverty Bay v East Coast.