Heartland attacking skills questioned

Questions hover over the attacking skills of their backs as Wairarapa-Bush heads into the last of their pre-Heartland competition rugby matches against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Memorial Park, Masterton tomorrow.
While their forwards have shown steady improvement in other lead-up games and no one could question the positive influence of Byron Karaitiana as a kicking first-five, both for goal and in general play, the ability of the Wairarapa-Bush rearguard to turn try-scoring opportunities into points on the board remains a concern.
And tomorrow's match is their last chance to produce the goods in that respect before their 2009 Heartland campaign kicks off with a match against West Coast in Greymouth next weekend.
That coach Kelvin Tantrum and his assistant Neil Foote are still searching for possible answers to their backline woes is evidenced by the hints of experimentation in their starting line-up on this occasion.
Newcomer Siaosi Anamani, from the Norths club in Wellington, will make his debut at centre and on the wings will be another "import" from the capital in Junior Togia and Pioneer utility player Tommy Harmon.
Anamani comes to Wairarapa-Bush with a reputation as being a player with a good mix of flair and speed and he will be doing both himself and his team a big favour if he can demonstrate those qualities tomorrow.
Togia, of course, is no stranger to the Wairarapa-Bush jersey and was one of the standouts in the backs during last season's Heartland campaign. He has played usefully at centre in the past but his penchant for the unorthodox makes him better placed on the wing.
The selection of Harmon is possibly the most interesting of all.
He plays most of his club rugby for Pioneer at second-five or centre and has become renowned for his aggressiveness, both on attack and defence, in those roles. He is not by any means though a rookie on the wing and his assertiveness could come in very handy there as well.
Few eyebrows would be raised at the other backline selections for tomorrow, Nick Risdon at halfback, Byron Karaitiana at first-five, Sam Mitchell at second-five and Nick Olson at fullback.
That's not to say, however, some of them aren't under pressure to perform to cement their Heartland berths. Risdon is being kept honest by the promise of youngster Api Matenga, Mitchell is still searching for the consistent form which made him such a threat at club level and while Olson's counter attacking skills are second-to-none he needs to display greater assurance over when to run and when to kick.
It is unfortunate Wairarapa-Bush will go into tomorrow's match with an under-strength pack as their efforts at fielding a first-string unit as a lead-in to the Heartland opener would have made absolute sense, and was indeed Tantrum's primary objective. Among the missing will be Brandon Young, Tomasi Kedrabuka and Nathan Rolls.
However, what the absence of some key players does is provide an ideal opportunity for their replacements to stake their claim for a regular berth and, to that end, close scrutiny will be given to the performances of Jared Brock at prop and Cory Reid and Andrew McLean in the middle row, let alone whoever plays at hooker. That was still in doubt yesterday with Richard Puddy battling injury and Adam Marshall on his sick bed.
Brock, from Puketoi, is a former Manawatu Colts and B player, who will be the cornerstone of the scrum along with fellow prop and captain Kurt Simmonds. Reid and McLean have already stepped up to the plate at rep level and can always be relied on to produce an honest effort.
Apart from Karaitiana's influence with the boot perhaps the most encouraging aspect of Wairarapa-Bush's play this season has been the combination of their loose trio, flankers Joss Tua-Davidson and Jared Hawkins and
No 8 Duncan Law, and happily they are all fit and well for tomorrow's encounter.
Horowhenua-Kapiti, for their part, will be buoyed by recent strong showings against Wellington B and Manawatu B, and also by the fact they have generally had the "wood" on Wairarapa-Bush in recent clashes between the two sides.
They are said to have a mobile pack and a set of backs who like to play an expansive style of rugby and they will be keen to make a positive statement, especially in view of them having been drawn in the same pool as Wairarapa-Bush in the Heartland championship.
The main curtain-raiser at Memorial Park tomorrow will feature the Wairarapa-Bush and Manawatu under-20 sides and, before that, will be two JAB club finals, the under-11s between the Rams (Masterton Red Star) and Pioneer, which kicks off at 10.30am, and the under 13s between the Rams and Gladstone-East Coast which starts one hour later.