A plucky Wairarapa-Bush gave Meads Cup defending champions Wanganui a fright in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
Wanganui won 26-19 but had to dig deep to beat a home side who were clearly outgunned in the battle for possession and territory but still managed to earn a bonus point through a mix of determined defence and the continued points-scoring exploits of first-five-cum-fullback Glen Walters.
Going into the last 15 minutes, Wairarapa-Bush held a 19-13 advantage through Walters having kicked four penalties and converting his own try.
And with Wanganui's patience starting to wear thin after having attack after attack thwarted by strong tackling, the prospects of Wairarapa-Bush pulling off an unlikely victory were starting to look good.
Then came, however, what was to be the most telling decision of the match when Wairarapa-Bush had their outstanding flanker Johan Van Vliet sin-binned, apparently for "killing" the ball in a tackle situation.
Within one minute of his absence Wanganui picked up a crucial seven points, replacement forward Roman Tutauha crashing over for a try and Mark Davis' conversion sailing between the posts after first rebounding off an upright.
Wanganui were now ahead 20-19 and a penalty and neatly taken dropped goal by Davis soon after gave them a handy cushion that they kept until the final whistle despite Wairarapa-Bush throwing everything bar the kitchen sink at them in the dying stages. Indeed, they probably had the ball more in their hands in those last two minutes than they did in the previous 78.
This was a tough day at the office for the Wairarapa-Bush pack, the scrum being about the only area of the forward game where they could claim to have had an advantage.
Their Wanganui counterparts were expert at the rolling maul and "pick and go" and were hugely impressive with the manner in which they consistently went from one phase to the next without losing the ball.
Their excellence in general play was such the Wairarapa-Bush forwards were forced to spend much of the game in defensive mode but did not shirk.
Typically, Van Vliet was a shining example with his massive tackle rate, but others like Tom Fleming, Kurt Simmonds, Andrew McLean and second-half replacement Jamie Hunt were close behind. With their forwards mainly playing second fiddle, the Wairarapa-Bush backs had precious few opportunities to demonstrate their attacking skills.
Centre Jessie McGilvray, in his blazer game (25th) for the union, made a couple of likely bursts in broken play as did Nick Olson from fullback and there was one exciting 60m run down his flank from wing Nathan Hunt.
Defensively there was strong work from McGilvray and his midfield partner Titapu Pairama-Lewington and, of course, the goal kicking of Walters, was a major plus. He has now scored 71 points in four Heartland games.
Saul Chase and Roman Tutauha scored tries for Wanganui and Mark Davis kicked three penalties, two conversions and a dropped goal. Walters scored a try and kicked one conversion and four penalties for the home team.
Wanganui took a clear lead on a congested Heartland points table. They have 17 points, followed by South Canterbury on 15, Wairarapa-Bush 14, East Coast 12, North Otago 11, Poverty Bay 10, King Country and West Coast 7, Thames Valley, Mid-Canterbury and Buller all 6 and Horowhenua-Kapiti 4.
Saturday's results: East Coast 20, Mid-Canterbury 13; Wanganui 26, Wairarapa-Bush 19; South Canterbury 52, North Otago 37; Buller 31, King Country 19; Horowhenua-Kapiti 25, Thames Valley 19; Poverty Bay 32, West Coast 13. Wairarapa-Bush plays Mid-Canterbury at Memorial Park on Saturday.