Tantrum: I’m proud we kept our heads

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum was rapt his players didn't "lose their rag"during their Heartland championship 33-12 win over East Coast at Ruatoria on Saturday.
East Coast often frustrated Wairarapa-Bush by continually slowing up play through llegally killing maul and ruck ball and, consequently, there was the ever present temptation to take the law into their own hands.
"Honestly I was amazed at how good our discipline was, "Tantrum said. "In situations like that it's not unusual for someone to lose their rag but noone did that...... it was pretty amazing really".
The constant infringing did, however, lead to a hefty penalty count-particularly after Wairarapa-Bush skipper Kurt Simmonds politely advised the referee of his concerns- and severely disrupted the flow of the match.
"We wanted to get continuity into our game but it was difficult, very difficult," Tantrum said. "There was penalty after penalty and it's hard to get any rhythm going when that happens.".
The end result for Wairarapa-Bush was that while they won comfortably enough the bulk of their points-18 in all- came from the boot of Byron Karaitiana and they scored just the three tries, one less than required for a bonus point.
And in a pool which still has five of the six teams very much in contention for the three Meads Cup playoff spots that could possibly come back to haunt them a little further down the track.
"Missing the bonus point is annoying, no question of that, but in the circumstances we probably did well to score as many tries as we did," Tantrum said. "It's not something we can afford to dwell on, we didn't get the extra point and that's it.".
Tantrum expects Wairarapa-Bush's last two pool games, against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin this coming Saturday and Buller in Masterton on September 26, to be torrid affairs, and he knows they may have to win both of them to secure a Meads Cup spot.
"They are going to be just as desperate as we are so I guess it will be a case of no holds barred," he said. "We are in a dogfight now, that's for sure."
Tantrum said some changes would almost certainly be made to the starting line-up for the Horowhenua-Kapiti match although just how many would not be clear until after training tonight.
The return from injury of Duncan Law will obviously make him a serious contender for the No.8 jersey and it would be no surprise to see Joss Tua-Davidson selected on the blindside flank.His physical presence-and that of Law for that matter-could be seen as crucial against a Horowhenua-Kapiti side sure to fancy their prospects of winning the forward battle.
Meanwhile,Eketahuna players Perri Tatana, Maia Tua-Davidson and Rebecca Maoney were all promninent as Wellington Pride maintained their unbeaten record in the NPC women's rugby competition with a 22-5 win over Hawke's Bay at the Petone Recreation Ground on Saturday.
Lock Tatana scored one of her team's four tries, Tua-Davidson at centre sparked many of their most potent attacks and Mahoney kicked one penalty and one conversion.
Wellinton Pride complete their round robin matches with a match against star-studded Canterbury in Christchurch this coming weekend and a win there would guarantee them a home semi-final..