Wairarapa-Bush will be looking to run East Coast off their feet by keeping it simple in their Heartland championship rugby match in Ruatoria tomorrow.
At first glance that may seem a contradiction in terms but, as Wairarapa-Bush head coach Mark Rutene emphasises, nothing positive can be gained without adequate protectionof possession.
"You don't need to be flashy to play the sort of rugby we want to play. It's more about keeping the ball in hand for long periods and moving the opposition around," Rutene said. "Basically we want to back our fitness and our mobility to wear them out."
Rutene will also be stressing the need for his players to keep their discipline against an East Coast side who, to put it mildly, will be rugged and uncompromising, especially in the forward exchanges. "You can bet on there being a few big hits and it's important we don't react in a way which affects our own performance," Rutene said. "They (East Coast) will be looking to get into our heads and we have to stay focused, otherwise we could be in trouble."
The one big question mark remaining over the Wairarapa-Bush starting line-up going into last night's training session concerned the make-up of the loose forward trio.
At the forefront of discussions was whether to reward Lee Ewe for a strong debut effort against North Otago last weekend when he replaced the injured skipper Joss Tua-Davidson in the No8 jersey by retaining him there despite Tua-Davidson's availability for tomorrow's game. That being the case Tua-Davidson would very probably take up one of the flanker berths, meaning either James Goodger or Johan Van Vliet would be relegated to the bench.
Of the two it would more likely be Goodger, who got the chop as Van Vliet is the only one of the three who is a specialist openside flanker. What's more, he has been one of the standout performers for Wairarapa-Bush in 2011.
The other possible change to the forwards from those who initially took the field against North Otago could come at prop where the toss-up was between Kurt Simmonds and Wilba Davies. Otherwise Brendan Walker will fill the other propping berth with Jake Tipene at hooker and Andrew McLean and Brandon Young in the middle row.
The backline will be pretty much as anticipated with the main talking point being the decision to move Trent Vatselias from first-five to fullback and to replace him in the No10 jersey with Zeb Aporo.
Mercurial Inia Katia will be at halfback, Tommy Harmon and Jesse McGilvary in midfield and Nick Olson and Michael Vuicikau on the wings.
