Brave effort by battling Wairarapa-Bush

Wairarapa-Bush could take heart from their performance despite losing 38-13 to Wellington in their Jimmy Cotter Memorial Trophy rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton yesterday.
With several first string players sidelined through injury it was always going to be a tough ask for the home side but they battled every inch of the way and provided sterner opposition than the final scoreline indicated.
The tenacity of the Wairarapa-Bush forwards, in particular, had to be admired. They didn't have the height or bulk of their Wellington counterparts and that made life difficult at both scrum and lineout time.
But what ground they lost there was countered by their physical presence in the rucks and mauls and their hunger for the loose ball
Coach Peter Russell had stressed the need for his forwards to use their mobility to full advantage and they did exactly that, often arriving at the breakdowns in greater numbers than Wellington and, consequently, turning over possession on a regular basis.
Pleasing too was the commitment of the Wairarapa-Bush pack in defensive situations. There the loosies generally led the way but it was nothing unusual to see the bigger men pulling off important tackles as well.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs lacked nothing on the score of endeavour either. They had only limited opportunities to demonstrate their attacking skills but were always willing to run hard and straight and, apart from one notable exception, there was an impressive sureness about their defence.
That notable exception was Wellington winger Roy Kinikinilau , the former rugby league player who has already had Super 12 experience for the Hurricanes in his brief career in the 15-a-side game. He was an absolute menace on attack, swatting off would-be tacklers as if they were sandflies. The two second half tries he scored were fine examples of individual brilliance.
If Kinikinilau was undoubtedly Wellington's player of the match then just as certainly the top of the pops for Wairarapa-Bush was No.8 Sylvanus Iro.He has been outstanding all season for Greytown-Tuhirangiu at club level and simply continued that form yesterday,regularly bashing and crashing his way upfield with ball in hand and just as regularly smashing into opposition players on defence.
Supporting Iro superbly in the looser facets of the forward game were captain Mike Robinson and Damon Neal.
Robinson, who plays his club rugby in Wellington these days, was especially effective with his defensive work around the fringes of the rucks and mauls while newcomer Neal was grand value in broken play situations, often snaffling the ball on the ground and feeding it to his supports. And he was ultra-active on defence with his tackle count being among the highest in the game.
There were a number of personnel changes in the Wairarapa-Bush tight five as the match progressed and those who stood out there included regulars in prop Dylan Higginson,and hookers Ritchie McDonald and Rob Foreman plus a couple of new faces in Jason Russo and Steve Wilkinson.
Russo, formerly of the Carterton club but now playing his club rugby in Wellington, has obviously bulked up and showed the benefits of it.He was his team's best option at lineout time and made a couple of surging runs for good measure.
It was unfortunate that Wairarapa-Bush's most influential back, centre Simanu Simanu, should be red carded late in the game for what was deemed a dangerous tackle. His hard-nosed approach on defence was always apparent and many a Wellington player felt the effects of his ferocity in that department.
Both halfbacks tried by Wairarapa-Bush , James Bruce and Victor Thompson, did their reputations no harm with Bruce relishing the close-quarter action and Thompson impressing with the speed of his passing, even when under pressure.
At first-five Patrick Rimene might not have had one of his best days with his goal kicking but was generally sound in his option taking and Nathan Couch was his usual robust self in midfield, supporting Simanu keenly on defence and always looking for the chance to show his attacking qualities.
Making his debut at fullback for Wairarapa-Bush was South African John Uys and while he had a relatively quiet game he did nothing to dent his prospects of further selection.
Wellington used yesterday's game as an opportunity for players on the fringes of their NPC first division team to advance their claims. Kinikinilau was their star but others to impress included a former Wairarapa-Bush age group rep in Corey Aporo at second-five, No.8 Peniasi Tokakece, flanker Justin Purdie and hooker Ged Robinson.
Kinikinilau scored two tries for Wellington with others going to Purdie, Robinson, Jack Tarrant and Matt Egan. Aporo kicked four conversions.
The sole try scorer for Wairarapa-Bush was Rob Foreman with Patrick Rimene kicking two penalties and one conversion.
There was little between the Wairarapa College and Kuranui College first XVs in the curtain-raiser match with Wairarapa College taking the honours 19-10 after leading 14-3 at halftime.
Wairarapa College had the better of the first half both in terms of territory and possession but Kuranui College held sway throughout most of the second spell.
Front rowers Ben Priestly. Blane Kete and Matthew Patrick toiled away well for Wairarapa College and they also benefitted from some nice touches by Sam Monaghan at first-five.
Kuranui College had the player of the match in halfback Michael Hollis who was busy on attack and defence while other standouts for them were midfielder Tapanga Isaac and No.8 Nathan Iro.