Ratima in race to get fit

RUGBY: It wasn't a surprise when Wanganui rugby hooker Shane Ratima started cramping up late in Saturday's 34-14 NPC second division win over East Coast and had to be replaced.
Probably more surprising was the fact that he was on the field in the first place ? and that he was able to play so well ? after struggling with a calf problem.
Ratima threw superbly into the Wanganui lineout, allowing Irishman Brian McClearn and Filfili Samuella a clear leap to the height of their powers, scrummed well and was a driving force in the rolling mauls which thrust their way through a weak East Coast response.
But now he faces a race to be fit for Saturday's match with Marlborough at Blenheim, a match which on the face of it looks difficult for Wanganui to win, but one which could be winnable if some of the creaky joints from Saturday's win are oiled.
And one of those is Ratima's calf strain. He didn't train much during the past week, taped up the calf on Saturday and went to it with a will. His non-stop energy is a lesson to his team-mates, some of whom still exhibited a tendency to loaf at times when they could have really put East Coast away.
How did it feel afterwards?
"It's not too great, but we'll see how we go," Ratima said. "I pretty much took a bad calf into the game, and I hadn't trained. But we strapped it up, took a couple of painkillers and went from there."
Ratima, who plays for Te Kawau in Manawatu but lives in the Hunterville area, has been a revelation and a very good pick by coaches Milton Haig and Guy Lennox.
"I'm loving it with this team, and if I can only become injury-free, and do some more training during the week, then I can become more effective at the weekend."
Ratima says the win "was a massive boost, and it showed us we have the ability to score points and put phases together. It was the first time things have really worked for us.
"We knew we had the potential there, it was just a matter of putting it together."
And Marlborough this Saturday?
"Marlborough will not be as loose as East Coast, they'll be well-drilled, but we've got nothing to lose."
Wanganui did get itself into scruffy territory in the second half, when it lose control of the ball, playing without it for long periods.
But much of the first half was good, and with the exception of two missed tackles close to the scrum and ruck which led to tries, the defence ? brilliantly led by Dariun Balcombe ? was good.
Fullback Ace Malo, whom one suspects was still not totally 100 percent before the game, nonetheless produced two pieces of tryscoring brilliance.
Denning Tyrell started well at first-five with some sharp running, but dropped off a couple of tackles later.
Best of the forwards outside Ratima were lock Brian McClearn and No 8 Semesi Taulava, with Peter Rowe again industrious.
Out of 10, it was probably a six. But as coach Milton Haig said, the team is making improvement each week.