Spence confident team will handle pressure

Wairarapa-Bush skipper Mike Spence is confident the pressure of the occasion won't have an adverse effect on his team when they play North Otago in a Heartland rugby championship Meads Cup semi-final match at Oamaru on Saturday.
Spence sees the experience of those squad members who have already tasted semi-final and grand final success at both NPC third division and Heartland championship level over the past two seasons as giving his side a vital edge in such an important fixture.
"The players who have been there, done that all have to take a leadership role and I'm sure they will," Spence said. "And those that haven't don't need to have any preconceived ideas, they should just go out there and concentrate on doing the best they can."
Spence has heard the talk that just by making the semi-finals the current Wairarapa-Bush squad have exceeded most expectations considering the vast player drain from last season but he prefers to think even further ahead.
"We've got to the semis now and we want to keep going, that's the way the team is thinking," he said. "We've done well but we can do better and it's up to us to prove it."
Spence says the disappointing 40-17 defeat by Wanganui last weekend won't be on the minds of his players when they travel to Oamaru.
"It was one of those games where we had a plan and didn't stick to it," he said. "Everybody felt pretty bad about it at the time but it's in the past now and we've got to focus on what's coming up."
Instead Spence considers Wairarapa-Bush can draw confidence from their top six playoff match with the then unbeaten North Otago, a game which the final scoreline of 15-7 to Wairarapa-Bush actually flattered the losers.
"That game showed we had the ability to beat them (North Otago) so there's no reason to believe we can't do it again," he said. "Playing them at home probably does make us the underdogs but that counts for nothing at kickoff time."
Spence said the tactical approach for Wairarapa-Bush will need to be similar to what it was in that earlier defeat of North Otago.
"We concentrated on getting in their faces and ensuring that their ball runners weren't given the time or space to work up a full head of steam and it worked well," Spence said "Again a tight defence is going to be very important, if we let them run we'll be in trouble.".
Meanwhile, Wairarapa-Bush coach Graeme Cheetham says his starting line-up for Saturday's game will probably not be confirmed until the morning of the match.
The main reason for the delay is the hamstring strain suffered by first-five John Dodd in the Wanganui game. Midweek Cheetham was giving him a 70-30 chance of taking the field but he said that decision will be left as late as possible.
There is a doubt too that lock Dan Griffin will be able to play as the eye injury which forced him to the sidelines early in the Wanganui match is still troubling him. That incident led to Wanganui wing John Mow being cited for an alleged stamping on Griffin with the NZRFU judicial hearing being held yesterday.
A likely starting line-up in Oamaru is:
Simanu Simanu; Lance Stevenson, Heemi Tupaea, Jon Guillard, Jordan Fox; John Dodd; Hamish McKenzie, Mike Spence; Jared Hawkins, Dan Griffin, Tomasi Kedrabuka, Nathan Rolls; Shane te Mana, Joe Harwood, Brett Rudman.