Royal opportunity to silence sceptics

Hansells Wairarapa-Bush have a royal opportunity to silence the sceptics when they play Poverty Bay in a non-championship rugby match at Gisborne tomorrow.
Talk has been rife over the past week or so on the reasons why so many prospective candidates for the union's premier side have made themselves unavailable for selection, not only for this particular game but for the Heartland championship campaign which follows.
Obviously the actual answers to that question are many and varied, and probably need to be the subject of detailed scrutiny by union officials, but already there is wide speculation that Wairarapa-Bush will struggle to even be in contention for the Meads Cup this season, let alone repeat last year's success.
All that will change to a large degree tomorrow, however, if the current Wairarapa-Bush squad stands up and is counted against a Poverty Bay side which are the present holders of the Lochore Cup, played for by the bottom six sides in the Heartland series.
The omens certainly seem to be in Wairarapa-Bush's favour.
After all it will be the first time this season they have officially played a match against a team ranked below them and, what's more, they have the advantage of meeting a Poverty Bay side whose confidence was severely dented by a 32-0 loss to King Country just last weekend.
Tomorrow's match will also provide the last chance for coaches Graham Cheetham and Lofty Stevenson to settle on their starting combinations for the opening Heartland game against West Coast in Masterton on August 18. They will be dead keen to get it right as West Coast is currently the lowest-ranked provincial side in the whole of the country and anything but a comfortable Wairarapa-Bush win there would not bode well for the remainder of the season.
It is strange for those of us who have followed Wairarapa-Bush closely over the past few years not to see names like Rimene and Couch in the backline and it will be interesting to see how they operate without their experience to guide them.
The decision to play Simanu Simanu at fullback will have raised a few eyebrows as it was only a couple of seasons back that Simanu was named NPC third division Player of the Year for his powerful performances at centre.
Simanu has had his share of fitness issues since then, however, and maybe his wonky knee will stand up better to the pressures of a position less often in the firing line. Fullback is certainly not foreign to him either as he has been there for Eketahuna at club level on numerous occasions.
The three-quarter line has an entirely now look about it with Pioneer speedster Jordan Fox on one wing, Carterton utility back Lance Stevenson on the other and Heemi Tupaea at centre. The latter transferred from the Wellington region to play for Masterton Red Star this season but had his club season ruined by injury. He delighted the selectors though with a strong performance in a "friendly" against Tasman B last weekend and is being touted as a possible star of the Heartland campaign.
The consistent Eketahuna midfielder Jon Guillard has the big task of filling the boots of Nathan Couch at second-five. He is a very different type of player than the enigmatic Couch in that reliability rather than inventiveness is his trademark but his stoutness on defence should be a plus.
Manawatu "import" John Dodd makes his debut at first-five for Wairarapa-Bush tomorrow although he has played for the union before at colts level. Cheetham and Stevenson will have their fingers and everything else crossed that he makes a decent fist of the position as finding an adequate replacement for Rimene in the pivotal role has been something of a nightmare for them.
The fact old hand Hamish McKenzie is at halfback is encouraging though as the Eketahuna player has the running and kicking game to take at least some of the pressure off Dodd in terms of tactical direction. Remarkably, McKenzie and hooker Joe Harwood are the only two of the seven Wairarapa-Bush players selected in the Heartland national side last season still playing for the union.
Harwood's selection has not been without its share of controversy, however, for while the Carterton rake did a grand job as skipper at provincial and international level last season Cheetham and Stevenson have opted to have loose forward Mike Spence call the shots in 2007.
Joining Harwood in the front row tomorrow are a couple of relative unknowns to the local rugby public, Shane Temana and Willie Leota. Temana, who is now a member of the Eketahuna club, formerly played his rugby in North Harbour while Leota was part of the Bush Sports side which took part in the Manawatu competition a couple of seasons back and currently plays his club rugby in Wellington. He was originally named in the Wairarapa-Bush B squad but an injury to Greytown-Tuhirangi prop Brett Rudman has seen him promoted to the premier side for this particular clash.
With Tomasi Kedarabuka battling a shoulder injury and wisely being placed in the reserves, Eketahuna's Dan Griffin and Puketoi's Jared Bambry will be at lock in the Gisborne match and their efforts, especially at lineout time, will be carefully scrutinised. Whoever impresses most there will very probably get to partner Kedarabuka against West Coast.
New captain Spence was generally at No.8 in the Heartland-championship winning team last year but he has been moved to the blindside flank tomorrow to make way for Eketahuna back rower Steve Olds. Olds has, of course, played at the top level before but is another who has battled injury this season and will be keen to prove that fitness is no longer an issue for him.
Of all the forward selections though that of Josh Mackey at openside flank has probably been the main talking point. His height does give Wairarapa-Bush an extra lineout option and he is a hard man to stop with ball in hand but whether he has the speed and tactical nous to dominate the breakdown area is open to debate. This is his chance to answer that query in a positive vein.
Speaking of tactics, tomorrow's match will also provide an insight into the approach Cheetham and Stevenson are likely to take this season in that respect. In an interview with the Times-Age earlier this week, Cheetham said they were keen to make the most of the mobility of their forwards and the pace of their outside backs by playing an expansive game but for that to happen the hard yards have to be done up front first. That's the test for Wairarapa-Bush this weekend, if they can control the ball-winning avenues and use that possession purposefully the collective sighs of relief from this part of the country will be heard in Gisborne and beyond!