Home semi next target for Wairarapa-Bush

A home semi-final beckons Wairarapa-Bush after their 42-7 win over West Coast in their NPC third division semi-final match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
Currently Wairarapa-Bush sit in third place on the competition table, just one point behind Poverty Bay and Mid-Canterbury, and a win over Mid-Canterbury in the last of the preliminary round games in Ashburton next weekend would guarantee them a home semi.
Such a result will only come, however, if Wairarapa-Bush show far greater discipline and control than they did in the victory over a West Coast side who seldom got out of first gear.
Normally a six try to one success at NPC level would be greeted with jubilation, but if Wairarapa-Bush had stuck with a game plan which saw them dominate the first 30 minutes their winning margin might have been double what it was.
Those opening stanzas saw the home team obtain a wealth of quality possession from the forward exchanges and the backs consistently open up the opposition defences with slick, accurate passing and strong running.
It was all pretty basic stuff, but West Coast had no answer to it and a Wairarapa-Bush win of huge proportions was clearly in the offing.
But rather than ram home their advantage big time Wairarapa-Bush loosened up, and the structure which had been serving them so well went completely out the window.
Rather than work as a unit the forwards were inclined to operate in ones and twos and the backs became too clever for their own good, often not looking where they were passing and going it alone with players virtually unmarked outside them. As a consequence many prime scoring opportunities were wasted.
Also marring the game was a tendancy for players on both sides to involve themselves in off-the-ball situations. Three or four times during the course of the game scuffles broke out with players running from all parts of the field to give their tuppence worth.
These incidents invariably ended with the referee spending what seemed like several minutes talking to the two captains and finally he lost his patience, giving a West Coast player his marching orders in the last minute of play. Had he taken sterner action earlier, rather than just handing out penalties, that may have been avoided.
For what seems like the umpteenth time this season it was lock Stu Smith who was the individual standout amongst the Wairarapa-Bush forwards. He took down his usual supply of good lineout ball, was typically industrious in the rucks and mauls, and also made a number of telling tackles.
No8 and captain Mike Robinson ran powerfully with ball in hand and generally got himself well over the advantage line, and flanker Brian Saolele covered huge amounts of territory on both attack and defence. Young lock Dan Joblin did enough to suggest he could become very useful in the middle row, taking his share of lineout ball and showing pleasing mobility about the paddock.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs illustrated how dangerous they can be attacking-wise in that opening 30 minutes with midfielders Nathan Couch and Simanu Simanu generally providing the initial thrust and wingers Jaco Pieterse and Esava Teko revelling in the space provided for them.
How unfortunate it was then that they should lose their way in the second half with ball often being spilled through careless passing and turnovers occurring through the ball carrier failing to link with his supports.
West Coast were, in a word, awful. There was little obvious pattern to their play right from the word go with the impression being they had come to Masterton with the idea of out-muscling their opposition. And when that didn't work they didn't have a plan B to fall back on.
Nathan Couch scored two tries for Wairarapa-Bush with others going to Jaco Pieterse, Esava Teko, Simanu Simanu and Brian Saolele. Patrick Rimene kicked two penalties and three conversions. Chris Connors scored the sole West Coast try and it was converted by Daniel Tauwhere.
lWairarapa-Bush coach Peter Russell described his team's performance as "good in stages."
He was pleased with the strong start made they made and the manner in which they worked their way to a 22-7 halftime lead, but conceded several more tries could have been scored had they maintained their structure.
"We weren't patient enough - we were doing things like forcing the last pass rather than keeping our cool," he said.
Russell was delighted though that the victory guaranteed his team a semi-finals berth and he said they would going to Ashburton next weekend in a positive frame of mind.
"The top four was our initial objective and we've obtained that. Now we're determined to go all out for a home semi," he said.