Time to show our real class

Winning ugly has become a habit for Wairarapa-Bush during their Heartland rugby championship campaign this season, and they will be hoping to buck that trend when they meet South Canterbury at Memorial Park, Masterton tomorrow
While six wins from as many matches is, by any standards, a superb record Wairarapa-Bush have shown only fleeting glimpses of their true potential and they will undoubtedly need to do better if they are to end their season with the Meads Cup in their trophy cabinet.
Safely through the South Canterbury game they will meet current top six play-off leaders Wanganui at Wanganui the following weekend in a match which will very probably decide whether they go into the semi-finals as one of the two leading qualifiers and thereby earn the right to host that game.
To have any chance of beating an in-form Wanganui side Wairarapa-Bush will need to be brimming with confidence and that is why tomorrow's game against South Canterbury is so crucial.
It is their last chance to produce the sort of rugby they are capable of and it is vital they make the most of it.
Mind you, anybody who thinks South Canterbury will be a pushover could be in for a shock.
They desperately need points to keep themselves in the hunt for a semi-final spot too and they will come to Masterton with the knowledge that a loss there could spell disaster to those aspirations.
Video coverage of South Canterbury's Heartland games suggests they will be well prepared to take Wairarapa-Bush on up front, and you can bet they will be well aware of the lineout hassles suffered by the home team against a niggly and disruptive Horowhenua-Kapiti outfit last weekend.
Such was the struggle for Wairarapa-Bush to attain lineout possession in that game, that about the biggest cheer of the whole game came when they took down clean ball at a lineout with just a few minutes remaining on the clock.
Just why they should perform so badly there was hard to fathom because they probably have more competent leapers than most of the Heartland teams, and hooker Joe Harwood is normally a very accurate thrower.
Perhaps it was just an off day, at least both the team and supporters will be praying that is the case.
But if the lineout was an embarrassment against Horowhenua-Kapiti the scrum was a highlight, with Wairarapa-Bush dismantling the opposition pack time and again.
Even so, however, the delivery of the ball to the halfback was by no means always secure and that is something which will need to be rectified against a South Canterbury side whose loosies will relish any opportunity to pounce on unprotected possession.
Wairarapa-Bush will be wanting their own loose forwards to have more influence in attacking situations tomorrow.
They were grand value with their aggressive close quarter defence against Horowhenua-Kapiti but seldom did they demonstrate their running skills.
Obviously having a referee whose interpretation of the advantage rule was conservative, to say the least, didn't help their cause but they did need to be more diligent in their support of the ball carrier.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs too struggled to make any real impact in an attacking sense last weekend, and again the problem was a case of poor option taking by the inside combination more than anything else.
They have to realise that opposing teams are going out of their way to ensure that the midfield pairing of Nathan Couch and Simanu Simanu are practically marked out of the game, and South Canterbury will be no different in that respect.
The challenge for the inside backs then is to adopt tactics which don't necessarily have either Couch or Simanu as the key elements, and which give pacy wingers Francis Seumanutata and Junior Togia and the ever-improving fullback Peato Lafaele greater opportunity to stretch their legs.
One suspects the defensive capabilities of the Wairarapa-Bush backs will be given a good working over tomorrow as well for South Canterbury often rely on their midfield to crash and bash their way over the advantage line, a tactic which can only be nullified by first tackles being made to count on a regular basis.
In summary, the fact that a loss tomorrow could mean that their remaining Meads Cup games will be played away from home should be enough incentive for Wairarapa-Bush to maintain their unbeaten Heartland record, and also enough incentive for their supporters to turn out in large numbers to help them along the way.