New talent excites Wairarapa coach

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Peter Russell is excited about the amount and quality of new talent moving into the district as the 2006 season approaches.
With rules for the inaugural NPC second division series stating that players must play their club rugby in the union they represent it is vital that the recruitment process is completed early in the New Year and some Wairarapa-Bush clubs appear to be doing well in that respect.
"There are a number of very interesting new faces about already," Russell said. "We (Wairarapa-Bush) have had a couple of hit-outs and the talent base looks good??.?very good."
Greytown-Tuhirangi have picked up three well-performed players in Marika Kau, Brett Rudman and Jamie Williams.
Speedster Kau was a regular on the wing in the Wairarapa-Bush side which won the last-ever NPC third division title last season, but played his club rugby in Wellington then.
He is keen to continue his association with the union and is changing his club affiliations to Greytown-Tuhirangi as a result.
Rudman is a prop who was rated highly enough in Wellington to play for their A squad in pre-season games while Williams,a fullback, has played professionally in the United Kingdom for eight years.
Yet to decide which club he will join is Michael Spence, a loose forward who has played a number of games for Manawatu, and in the same boat is Tyrone McTavish, a South African lock who played for Red Star in the 2003 season, and who was part of the Wairarapa-Bush squad then.
Last season's Wairarapa-Bush Player of the Year, Fijian lock Tomasi Kedarabuka, is expected back in the region soon and has indicated he will be bringing a winger who has played for Fiji under-21 with him, and reports are that another promising age group player from England-a hooker in this instance- will be part of the Gladstone line-up.
Also pleasing to coach Russell is the fact that the bulk of last season's Wairarapa-Bush squad will again be available in 2006.
Missing though will be skipper Mike Robinson, hooker Rob Foreman, loose forward Daimon Neal and Dutch fullback Bart Vigguurs who have either retired or will be playing their rugby elsewhere .
Russell anticipates the standard of competition in the NPC second division series being a clear notch above that experienced at third division level last season and consequently his team will have a longer and more intensive build-up in 2006.
"We can't afford any prospect of fitness being an issue?we have to be right up to speed in that respect," he said. "It's important that players are out doing the hard yards now, it'll pay dividends for them in the long term."
Meanwhile, it seems almost certain that Featherston will be part of the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division competition in 2006 after missing the last couple of seasons through a shortage of players available to play in the top level grade.
A spokesman said they still needed a couple of front row forwards to bolster their squad but they were "very hopeful" of returning to the premier grade.