Home semi a huge advantage

The lure of a home semi-final should be incentive enough for Wairarapa-Bush to produce a top-notch performance in their NPC third division rugby match with Mid-Canterbury at Ashburton tomorrow.
Whichever of the two teams wins the game will guarantee themselves a home semi while the loser will have to enter hostile territory the following weekend in their bid to make the competition decider.
The value of playing at home has been well illustrated by Wairarapa-Bush already this season.
Their three NPC appearances at Memorial Park have brought victories over Buller, King Country and West Coast, all of them by comfortable margins.
In away games they have beaten Horowhenua-Kapiti, drew with South Canterbury and lost to Poverty Bay.
Five wins and a draw from six matches is, of course, an impressive record but as selector-coach Peter Russell pointed out this week Wairarapa-Bush have still to prove they can start a game strongly and maintain the momentum for the full 80 minutes.
There have been periods of outstanding play, such as the whole second half against King Country and the first 30 minutes against West Coast, but in no match have they played to their potential all the way through.
That then has to be the prime objective for Wairarapa-Bush when they square up against a Mid-Canterbury side relegated from second division last season and generally seen as the leading contender for third division honours in 2004.
From all accounts Mid-Canterbury are no fancy dans.They rely to a great extent on attaining dominance up front and their backs are generally content to play second fiddle in the scheme of things.
That being the case Wairarapa-Bush could profit from playing a similar type of rugby to that which saw them storm out to a comprehensive lead early in last week's encounter with West Coast.
There wasn't anything remarkable about it tactically in that it was simply a case of the forwards providing a regular supply of usable ball to their backs and the latter consistently stretching their opposition with slick passing and strong running.
It was pretty basic stuff but it worked a treat and if Wairarapa-Bush had stuck with it for the full 80 minutes their winning margin could well have been double what it was.
Unfortunately, however, that didn't happen with the second half degenerating into 40 minutes of turnovers and spilled ball , much of it caused by players tending more towards individualism than teamwork.
Any repeat of the latter tomorrow and Wairarapa-Bush will be cleaned out big time. For you can safely wager Mid-Canterbury won't be nearly as lenient as West Coast when it comes to making the most of their opposition's deficiencies
Attacking Mid-Canterbury through the backs would appear to make good sense for Wairarapa-Bush tomorrow.
In Esava Teko, Simanu Simanu, Jaco Pieterse, Jorji Tamani, Nathan Couch and Richard Carroll they have a number of outside backs who have shown the ability in recent games to open up opposition defences.
That Pieterse continues to hold down his place on the wing in the starting line-up despite the return from injury of the exciting Tamani is a credit to the progress he has made in a position which is still relatively new to him.
He mightn't be the speediest winger around but he bristles with aggression in everything he does and is seldom halted by the first tackle,
Teko has already set a Wairarapa-Bush record for the most tries scored at third division level in any one season-six- and would have to be one of the best finishers playing in the competition this season.
But it's not only his nose for tries which has grabbed attention, he's always prepared to do his full share of work in defensive situations as well.
It won't however be a back who will emerge as Wairarapa-Bush's Air New Zealand Player of the Year for 2004.
So consistently outstanding has been experienced lock Stu Smith in game after game that he has already made this award something of a no contest.
Smith has typified perfectly the description "workhorse".He does all the things expected of him in the lineouts and scrums, rucks and mauls with the best of them and for a lock forward makes more tackles than you'd ever expect.
What an indictment it is of our current selection strategies in this country that players like Smith have very little chance of playing the likes of Super 12 rugby simply because they choose to play at provincial level for a third division union.
He would not embarrass himself in higher company, that's for sure.
Speaking of awards if there was one for the most improved Wairarapa-Bush player of 2004 an Eketahuna clubmate of Smith in hooker Rob Foreman would have to be the front runner.
He had a relatively quiet start to the representative season but has really come of age since the NPC programme got into full swing.
He is undoubtedly one of the better throwers of lineout ball in the third division series, scrums powerfully and generally makes good metreage when given the chance to demonstrate his running skills.
The battle for Wairarapa-Bush will be to retain his services as some of the bigger, richer unions are sure to have noted his promise.