Mind games? begin as top of table clash looms

Wanganui coach Milton Haig refuses to accept favouritism for his side in their vital Heartland championship rugby match with Wairarapa-Bush at Wanganui on Saturday.
Most pundits are picking the home advantage to be enough to give Wanganui victory, in the clash between the two unbeaten sides in the Meads Cup competition, but Haig is quick to remove himself from that camp.
"They (Wairarapa-Bush) haven't been beaten in seven games and you don't manage that without being a decent side," he said. "Obviously we believe we can win, but we are taking absolutely nothing for granted, it would be stupid to do that," he said
Unlike Wairarapa-Bush, Wanganui are already guaranteed a home-semi-final but as Haig points out they still have plenty to play for.
By winning Saturday's game they would go into the semis as the top qualifier and would therefore avoid playing the dangerous North Otago outfit down there.
Rather, their opposition would come from the three sides still fighting for the fourth qualifying berth, Mid-Canterbury, Horowhenua-Kapiti and South Canterbury.
And victory would mean that, safely through the semis, they would also be hosting the grand final a week later.
"We have three games to go and we want to play them all at home; that's the motivation for us," he said. "And we know Wairarapa-Bush have exactly the same objective so there's a lot riding on Saturday's match, isn't there?"
Haig was delighted that the 49-37 win secured over North Otago in Oamaru last weekend did not provide any injury concerns and consequently he will be fielding a full strength side against Wairarapa-Bush.
He was pleased to see his team run in seven tries against North Otago, but disappointed they allowed their opposition to score two tries in the last few minutes which left the end scoreline closer than it should have been.
"We were up by 24 points with two minutes to go and that's the way it should have stayed," he said.
"We had lapses on defence and while the win was safe you don't want that sort of thing creeping into your game."
Haig makes no secret of how Wanganui likes to play .He says the emphasis is always on attack, a sentiment supported by statistics which show they have scored a remarkable 41 tries in their seven Heartland games, a figure made even more daunting when you consider Wairarapa-Bush have managed just 22.
"We do have quality backs and we do like to use them," Haig said. "We work on the basis that you win games by scoring tries, and we'll have a crack from anywhere on the paddock??I'm sure everybody knows that by now."
Star of the backline at Oamaru was centre Pati Fetuia, who scored three tries and now has 12 in Heartland games, eight more than Wairarapa-Bush wing Francis Seumanutata who is his side's top try scorer with four.
Fetuia's confrontation with hard-tackling Wairarapa-Bush centre Simanu Simanu promises to be worth the price of admission alone.
Simanu hasn't quite shown the form which saw him named NPC third division player of the year last season ? more because of knee injury hassles than anything else ? but he is still one of the most punishing tacklers around and he will relish the chance to lock horns with a player of Fetuia's reputation.
But while it has been their backs who have generally captured the headlines, Haig has words of praise for the Wanganui forwards as well.
He said they could be relied on to win their own ball in the set pieces and were mobile about the paddock.
"It's the old story, the backs can only do their thing if they are getting enough good ball to do it," Haig said.
The Wanganui coach does believe, however, that Saturday's game could be the toughest assignment his pack has met so far this season.
He has huge respect for Wairarapa-Bush's prowess at scrum line and at lineouts, and also for their ruggedness in close quarter situations, both on attack and defence.
"We know our forwards are going to have to step up a notch to combat them and I'm sure they will do that," he said.
One area though where Wanganui might struggle to match Wairarapa-Bush is in goal kicking, with experienced inside back Patrick Rimene having done a grand job for Wairarapa-Bush in their Heartland campaign.
His 15 penalties and 17 conversions have him sitting on 79 pts, and if Wairarapa-Bush make it all the way to the final his chances of breaking the "ton" must be bright.
As mentioned previously Seumanutata leads the Wairarapa-Bush try scorers with four, followed by Junior Togia three, Joe Harwood, Sam Henderson Bert Buckle, Tomasi Kedarabauka, Hamish McKenzie and Peato Lafaele, all of whom have two, and Simanu Simanu, Sylvanus Iro and Mike Spence, who have all scored one.