Wairarapa-Bush rocketed to the top of the competition table when they defeated Mid-Canterbury 31-6 in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
With previous leaders Wanganui being upset by East Coast and second-placed South Canterbury beaten by Buller the four points picked up by Wairarapa-Bush elevated them to the frontrunner role.
But the race for the Meads Cup semifinals remains wide open with more than half the 12 participating teams in with a chance of making it with three rounds of qualifying round games still to be played.
Wairarapa-Bush have 18 points, followed by Wanganui 17, South Canterbury, East Coast and Buller all 16, North Otago 15, Poverty Bay 11, Thames Valley 10, Horowhenua-Kapiti 9, King Country and West Coast 7 and Mid-Canterbury 6.
While the margin of victory might suggest otherwise, Wairarapa-Bush were certainly not at their best against Mid-Canterbury.
In fact, it would be a fair appraisal to say the final scoreline said more about how poorly Mid-Canterbury played than how well the home team performed.
The southerners "bombed" a handful of prime try-scoring opportunities through a mix of inept passing and handling and also had the mortification of missing two penalty attempts from right out in front.
Their problems were compounded when they had two forwards sin-binned in the first half, and at one stage had just 13 players on the paddock.
It was a much happier story for Wairarapa-Bush even if they, too, failed to execute as well as they would have liked.
Their main goal was to secure the victory to keep them on track for a place in the Meads Cup semis and in a penalty-ridden match they had just the player to take advantage of the monotonous regularity in which the referee sounded his whistle.
Within eight minutes of the commencement of play Glen Walters had banged over three penalties to give them a 9-0 lead and by halftime he had added a try, a conversion and another penalty to his personal tally and Wairarapa-Bush were ahead by a commanding 19-3.The try was a fine solo effort, coming after he had spied a gap, threw a dummy and forced his way over.
The 19 points scored by Walters in that opening 40 minutes meant he had been responsible for the last 50 points scored by Wairarapa-Bush in Heartland games, having scored all his team's points in their previous two matches against Wanganui (19) and West Coast (12). It was winger Cameron Hayton who ended the Walters dominance of the scoreboard when he scooted 40m for an early second-half try and the final scoring act for Wairarapa-Bush came when Tom Fleming crashed over for a late try that Walters converted from the sideline. The former Kuranui College first XV player has now recorded a staggering 92 points in his five Heartland appearances.
This was not, though, a polished Wairarapa-Bush effort. Just as they had in their previous encounter with Wanganui, their forwards were guilty of turning over too much possession, particularly in the mauls where a mix of poor body position and lack of close support for the ball carrier often counted against them.
And while outstanding flanker Johan Van Vliet was invariably first to the breakdowns, there were times when he didn't have the necessary backing to create a turnover himself.
It was pleasing to see the Wairarapa-Bush backs prepared to move the ball wide whenever the opportunity existed but a tendency to "telegraph" their attacking ploys meant they were generally snuffed out before the advantage line was reached.
On the positive side, the Wairarapa-Bush forwards did nothing to harm their reputation of being one of the best scrummaging units in the Heartland competition and Fleming, Andrew McLean, John McFadzean and Brandon Young were all prominent at lineout time. Van Vliet was again an absolute star in the loose, both on attack and defence, and props Jonathon Fuimaono and Wilba Davies were hard to stop with ball in hand.
Walters, for the accuracy of his goal kicking and soundness in general play, was a standout in the Wairarapa-Bush rearguard, along with Hayton who used his speed and acceleration to make several telling breaks.
Walters, Hayton and Fleming scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush with Walters adding four penalties and two conversions. Ben Kitching kicked two penalties for a disappointing Mid-Canterbury, who now seem certain to miss the Meads Cup semis for the first time since 2006.
Saturday's Heartland championship results were: Thames Valley 28, King Country 18; Horowhenua-Kapiti 31 , West Coast 15; North Otago 24, Poverty Bay 23; Buller 45, South Canterbury 32; Wairarapa-Bush 31, Mid-Canterbury 6; East Coast 25, Wanganui 17.
Wairarapa-Bush play King Country in Taupo next Saturday before matches against North Otago at home and Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin.