Big battle for rugby's Kapene Cup

Pioneer Kapene Cup honours will be on the line when Pioneer and Bush Sports do battle in the feature of five Wairarapa-Bush premier division club rugby matches to be played in Masterton tomorrow.

And how appropriate it is that should be the case as it was 10 years ago this week that the player after whom this trophy is named, legendary Martinborough, Wairarapa-Bush and New Zealand Maori prop Chris "Moose" Kapene, died.

The equation for Pioneer is simple. Draw or win and they have the Kapene Cup in safe keeping even allowing for the fact they have the bye when the final series of matches in this competition is played the following weekend.

For Bush Sports it is a very different story. Not only do they have to beat Pioneer but they also have to defeat East Coast seven days later and pick up at least one bonus point for four or more tries along the way.

Tactically there is no secret about how Pioneer will approach tomorrow's game. So far they have chalked up nine wins from as many matches by playing an expansive style of rugby and coach Mike Harmon will be sticking with the tried and true on this occasion. He will be wanting quick ball delivered to pacy outside backs like Damian Kamo-Paku, Charlie Brown, Nikora Ewe and Hoani Peacock so they can strut their stuff on a regular basis.

Bush Sports, on the other hand, might be inclined to take a more conservative stance. They have some tough nuts up front in the form of Jake Tipene, Rangi Wolland, Sam Marshall-Wilson, Jamie Hunt and Brandon Young and they could fancy their chances of nullifying the brilliance of the Pioneer backs simply by denying them quality possession. How successful they are could well decide the result of this one.

It seems strange two of the other premier division matches will start at the same time (2.30pm) as that between Pioneer and Bush Sports which means spectators will have to choose between them.

Why times were not staggered with at least one match starting at around 11am is difficult to fathom as that would have given fans better value for money, and the representative selectors greater opportunity to assess individual talent.

Playing on the No 2 ground at 2.30pm will be Marist and Carterton and with Marist already consigned to demotion to the premier reserves grade after next weekend and Carterton already through to the Tui Cup main championship the result here will only be of academic interest. Interestingly, Carterton have taken a similar path into the Tui Cup as they did last year when they went all the way to the grand final.

Eketahuna will be keen to upset the better-performed East Coast on Memorial Park 3 at 2.30pm because they sit fourth from bottom on the competition table. The bottom three after next weekend are relegated to the premier reserves so any points picked up here would be valuable for Eketahuna in their struggle to stay ahead of Puketoi (11 points) and Rams (7). They will certainly keep East Coast honest up front but whether they can stop their backs from cutting loose is another matter.

The two premier division games starting at 1pm are Rams v Martinborough on the No 1 ground and Greytown v Gladstone on the No 3 ground. Martinborough should be too strong for Rams but then other fixture should be a close affair with perhaps defending Tui Cup champions Gladstone having the edge. They have had a mixed season to date but, like Carterton, have shown they can produce the goods when it matters most.