We?re better still?- Russell

Wairarapa-Bush coach Peter Russell was keeping his feet firmly on the ground after his team earned themselves a home semi-final in the NPC third division rugby competition by beating Mid-Canterbury 26-22 in Ashburton on Saturday.
While delighted his side had come out of the game on the right side of the ledger Russell was quick to emphasise they had left plenty of scope for improvement.
"We can play a whole lot better than that," he said."We did well in some areas and not so well in others. It wasn't anything to get too excited about."
Russell is adamant the margin between the two teams should have been considerably more than just four points.
There were periods in the game where Wairarapa-Bush threatened to take total control, but rather than press their home their advantage they had tended to go off the boil.
"We kept letting them back into the match and that was disappointing," he said. "It got a lot closer than it should have been."
Wairarapa-Bush played with the wind at their backs in the first half, but didn't utilise the elements as well as they should have, and trailed 7-8 at the break.
"We needed to focus on playing the game in their half but we didn't do that," Russell said. "We kept trying to move the ball in our own territory and that wasn't the way to go."
The second spell saw Wairarapa-Bush tighten their approach to good effect with forwards and backs combining in attacking movements which often stretched the Mid-Canterbury defence.
Three tries were added to the one Wairarapa-Bush had managed in the first half, and they were somewhat unlucky not to score at least one other as well.
Mid-Canterbury did, however, keep in touch on the scoreboard and came close to snatching victory in the last minute when an attack ended over the Wairarapa-Bush line only for the referee to rule the ball had been held up in goal.
The Wairarapa-Bush forwards often had their Mid-Canterbury counterparts on the back foot at scrum time, but struggled to get any rhythm into their lineout play. Little quality ball was obtained in that department.
Coach Russell was pleased with the number of turnovers created by his forwards in second and third phase situations, saying they had a clear edge over Mid-Canterbury in that area of the game.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs were a mixture of good and indifferent. Their option taking, particularly in the first half, was not always what it should have been, but they did manage to open the Mid-Canterbury defence in midfield with strong, hard running. And when the outside backs got a chance to stretch their legs they generally made good metreage.
Player of the match for Wairarapa-Bush was prop Dylan Higginson.He scrummaged powerfully and was a tower of strength in the rucks and mauls.
Flankers Sam Henderson and Brian Saolele were good value on attack and defence and lock Stu Smith was typically industrious in everything he did.
Second-five Nathan Couch was the pick of the Wairarapa-Bush backs. He made a number of clean breaks through the course of the game. Both halfbacks used, Hamish McKenzie and James Bruce, were always quick to harrass their opposite at scrum time and around the fringes of the rucks and mauls and Richard Carroll showed pace and elusiveness in scoring his try.
Carroll, Stu Smith, Esava Teko and Nathan Couch scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush and Patrick Rimene kicked three conversions. Nick webster (2) and Andrew Morgan were the try scorers for Mid-Canterbury and Matt Dunlea kicked one pnalty and two conversions.
The fact Mid-Canterbury will again be Wairarapa-Bush's opponent in their semi-final at Memorial Park next weekend is seen by coach Russell as a plus.
"We now have a good idea of their strengths and weaknesses and hopefully we can use that to our advantage," he said.
Russell is mindful of the fact, however, that Saturday's result will count for nothing when the semi-final action begins.
He expects Mid-Canterbury, which were relegated from second division at the end of last season, to throw everything bar the proverbial kitchen sink at his team and says Wairarapa-Bush will need to lift their effort several notches from this weekend to earn a grand finals berth.
"We can take absolutely nothing for granted??.and we won't be," he said.
Meanwhile, the Wairarapa-Bush B team finished runners-up to Wanganui in the Hurricanes region B competition after beating Horowhenua-Kapiti 29-17 at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
The two teams kept the small crowd entertained by placing the emphasis on attack and some fine tries were scored.
Wairarapa-Bush played into the wind in the first half and went to the break 14-12 ahead through tries to Hamish McGregor and Dee Hawkins and two conversions by Nathan Rolls.
The second half saw Wararapa-Bush increase their advantage with Matt Easton and Nathan Sanson scoring tries, Sanson dropping a goal and Rolls landing one conversion.
No8 Dee Hawkins was in outstanding form for the home team while fellow loosie Nathan Rolls also shone. The inside back combination of Charlie Bargh and Nathan Sanson directed play well and Ben Couch and Glen Bunny were prominent in midfield.
The Wairarapa-Bush B's were making their last appearance of the season and have completed nine games with the very creditable record of five wins and four losses.
In the Hurricanes region competition they won four of their six games, their only losses being to Wanganui.
Back rower Dee Hawkins was their player of the season, taking the honours narrowly from winger Simon Finnie and front rower Angus McMillan.