Members of the 1976 and 1977 Wairarapa-Bush rugby sides will hold a reunion in Masterton tomorrow. Organiser Neville Taylor expects at least 30 players and partners to take part in the festivities which will start with a social get-together in the union rooms at Memorial Park at 4pm, followed by adinner at the same venue. Both the 1976 and 1977 teams have a special niche in Wairarapa-Bush rugby history with the 1976 side being the first Wairarapa-Bush team to contest the NPC and the 1977 team hosting the Lions. One of the more colourful identities playing for Wairarapa-Bush at that time was Ian Snook but he is currently in Japan and is unable to tomorrow's reunion while two other popular figures, Bill Rowlands and Mick Peachey, have passed away. Meanwhile , it seems almost certain that the semi-finalists in the Wairarapa-Bush senior first division competition have been found with still two series of qualifying matches to be played. Eketahuna with 74pts is literally miles above the rest of the contenders on the competition table with Marist holding down second on 55, followed by Gladstone 54 and Greytown-Tuhirangi 51. There is still a mathematical chance that Carterton, who have 45pts, and Pioneer, who have 42, could still come into the reckoning as well but the odds against that happening are huge. Under this year's format the semi-finals will see the first seeded team play the fourth seeds and the second seeds play the third seeds with the two winners going on to the grand final. It goes without saying, of course, that for Marist, Gladstone and Greytown-Tuhirangi the big aim over the next two weeks will be to secure enough points to qualify either second or third and therefore not have to square off against Eketahuna in the semis. Of the trio Marist look to have the most difficult task tomorrow as they will play Pioneer but Gladstone won't be taking anything for granted in their match with East Coast either. Greytown-Tuhirangi, on the other hand, should be too strong for Puketoi.
