Another star ripped from Heartland?

A Wairarapa-Bush player is about to yet again highlight the plight of the country's smaller rugby unions in the selectorial process.
First-five Byron Karaitiana has been a revelation in Heartland championship matches this season yet his chances of earning himself a Super 14 contract while playing his rugby here are basically zilch.
The plain facts are if you don't play for an Air NZ Cup province you are on the outer from the word go Yes, you might sneak a place in the divisional side which travels to some rugby outpost but that's as far as it goes.
That Karaitiana has the potential to make a name for himself at Super 14 level would be debated by few of those who have watched his remarkable progress this season
Remarkable because he is still a relative newcomer to the pivotal role.
His kicking game, both for goal and in general play, is clearly Karaitiana's greatest strength but he is never afraid to have a crack at the opposing defences and shows similar assertiveness on defence. There is a lot of Stephen Donald about how he goes about his work.
What will happen, of course is that sooner or later - and probably sooner - Karaitiana will be forced to leave Wairarapa-Bush if he wants to make rugby a fulltime career and some other union well start crowing about how they "discovered" him.
Maddening!
 
A suggestion in last week's column that Wairarapa should invent a logo for itself which conveyed something about its sporting prowess received a surprisingly favourable reaction.
I say surprisingly because readers might (sometimes) agree with what you write but seldom do they actually go out of their way to actually tell you so. Kiwis, it seems, aren't like that.
So it was encouraging to get a host of phone calls and e-mails, all of which were of the mind that the three district councils should band together and use sport as the region's flag bearer.
It makes good sense, doesn't it? Featherston, Martinborough, Greytown, Carterton and Masterton have all punched well above their weight in just about every sport you can imagine and have done so for yonks. Not to mention all the little places in between.
The next challenge for readers then is to come up with a logo which best typifies the province's impressive sporting heritage. E-mail your thoughts to me at gary.caffell@age.co.nz and I'll sort out those which can be printed in a family newspaper and publish them next Wednesday.
And, what's more, we'll send the best of them on to our civic leaders with the idea of prompting them to take up the challenge.
Don't be shy ... let's do Wairarapa proud!
 
NZRFU officials are faced with a public relations nightmare.
The renewed popularity of the country's top provincial competition, the Air New Zealand Cup, might be great news for ordinary rugby folk but it's created a monster for the national heirachy.
Their decision to reduce the number of participants from 14 to 10 from next season onwards is set to produce a public backlash of monumental magnitude. Particularly, of course. from those resident in the provinces which are given the chop.
It's a debate the NZRFU simply can't win. They can talk all they like about the financial implications of keeping things as they are but they are never going to convince Joe and Jill Bloggs that change is a necessary evil.
Maybe, just maybe, of course the NZRFU may relent and leave things as they are but from all the statements which have been emanating from head office in recent weeks you get the impression they are going to tough this one out.
 
While on the subject of the Air New Zealand Cup where is the smart money going in terms of predicting the overall winner?
Canterbury, as always seems to be the case, have to be the favourites but it might pay to remember that their host of All Blacks are likely to be missing over the latter stages of the competition. Without them they are still a serious contender but hardly in the certainty category.
Hawke's Bay sits in second place and any team with a Guildford starring on the field of play and a Russell as coach is guaranteed strong Wairarapa-Bush support, aren't they? Whether they are quite well-rounded enough to go all the way is questionable though and the same goes for Southland and Bay of Plenty.
The two I like for what it's worth are Wellington and Waikato, neither of whom have shown the form of which they are capable, yet are still well in the mix for the semis.To me they have more potential match winners than anyone else when the ABs are out and that will be a huge help over the business end of proceedings.
 
Two former Wairarapa senior representatives will be in line for a huge pay day when they strut their stuff at the $US6m Champions League Twenty20 tourney in India, the opening matches in which will be played on Saturday.
Ross Taylor will be a key man in the India-based Royal Challengers Banaglore combination which all also includes other cricketing icons in Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis, Anil Kumble, Dale Steyn and Mark Boucher. Also in that squad is Jesse Ryder but it seems like injury will sideline him.
Greg Todd is playing for the Otago Volts who, of course, won the right to represent New Zealand by winning our own domestic trophy last season. Four Black Caps, Brendon McCullum, Aaron Redmond, Neil Broom and Ian Butler, are part of the Volts team.
The competition is split into four groups of three with one team from each group dropping out after the first round, and four teams going through to the semis after extended play.
The first four teams out will still earn $US100,000 with the overall winner taking away $US2.5m Not bad for a game of slog eh!
 
Nervous times await New Zealand's footballing fraternity in the early hours of Sunday morning.
The All Whites will be well on the way to a place in the World Cup finals to be held in South Africa next year if they can come out of the first of their two play-off games against Bahrain on level terms. but before we get too cocky there are two things to remember, Bahrain have the home advantage and Australia only just beat them in the last minute the last time they met. And we know who would be favourite if the Aussies were taking on the All Whites, don't we?
The tactical approach of the All Whites will be interesting, Do they look to fully utilise the undoubted goal-scoring qualities of their forwards or do they go defensive with the aim of restricting any damage to manageable proportions come the second leg which will be played in New Zealand.
Whatever happens in that regard though this is our best chance of making the World Cup finals since we did so back in 1982. To get so close and miss out would be a huge disappointment for sure.