Buller won?t be push-overs

Wairarapa-Bush are not selling Buller short in the lead-up to their NPC first division rugby clash at Memorial Park, Masterton tomorrow.
The memories of losing to them in the preliminary rounds of third division play last season, have been rekindled by team management to ensure that complacency won't be an issue and coach Peter Russell is confident it will have the desired effect.
"No way are we looking at this game as any sort of walk in the park," he said.
"They (Buller) are a good side and we will be treating them with the utmost respect. If we don't play well we will lose, simple as that."
Russell is anticipating Buller placing considerable emphasis on forward dominance, and he knows the Wairarapa-Bush pack will need to show greater unity than they did in the narrow win over Poverty Bay last weekend to counter them.
"We have to be more structured in our play tomorrow, and if we keep turning over ball like we did last weekend then we will be in big trouble," Russell said. "Retention of possession is vital if we are to get our own game plan going."
Obviously Russell isn't spelling out exactly what that game plan will be, but there seems little doubt he will want to utilise the mobility of the Wairarapa-Bush forwards to the fullest extent.
The decision to play young South African Bert Buckle ahead of Brett Rudman at prop, and to have Mike Spence at No.8 instead of Brodie Duffin does nothing but add credence to that theory as Buckle and Spence are players who relish any chance to run the ball back at their opposition, as indeed do all the other forwards named in the starting XV.
First and foremost though the Wairarapa-Bush forwards need to provide a stable platform in the set pieces of lineout and scrum.
The lineout was one of the better aspects of the home team's performance against Poverty Bay, with hooker Joe Harwood generally finding his jumpers with his throws and lock Tomasi Kedarabuka, in particular, making a number of clean takes.
Kedarabuka did throw a scare into the Wairarapa-Bush camp when he suffered an elbow injury in a training accident on Tuesday night, but he has recovered well and is expected to play a full part in tomorrow's game.
His work rate in all areas of the forward game is so enormous that any absence would be sorely felt.
With seasoned front rower Gavin Briggs as their spearhead, Buller will be heavily reliant on their pack calling the tune at tune at scrum time and it will be interesting to see how Wairarapa-Bush cope with the pressure applied on them in that department.
The platform there was generally stable in the Poverty Bay match where they even managed to pick up a tighthead, but their opposition then didn't aid their cause by making several changes to the make-up of their pack through the course of the game.
Buller won't be doing that, and the challenge they pose in the scrums will consequently be that much greater.
It will be important too that the Wairarapa-Bush loosies are prepared to lend their "engine room" a decent hand if the going gets tough in the tighter exchanges.
Too often against Poverty Bay only two or three of the pack were seen to be doing the hard yards in the rucks and mauls, with others standing off and waiting for the ball to appear.
Again that will spell danger with a capital D against a team like Buller which tends to use the ruck and maul as the launching pad for their most potent attacks. Allowing them any momentum there will be asking for trouble.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs will be hoping that the old show business axiom of a bad dress rehearsal meaning an outstanding first night rings true for them tomorrow.
They were very much out of sorts against Poverty Bay, with poor option taking, laboured passing and injudicious kicking blighting their performance.
There is no question though that the Wairarapa-Bush rearguard is brimming with talent from an attacking viewpoint. They have flair and guile in abundance in midfield, where Nathan Couch and Simanu Simanu reign supreme and three newcomers to their NPC side in wings Junior Togia and Francis Seumanata and fullback Peato Lafeale all have pace to burn as well.
Togia, of course, played for Buller last season and actually scored three tries in the two games he had against Wairarapa-Bush.
Hopefully he can provide a similar return now that he is on the other side of the fence.
Seumanata and Lafaele were both part of the Northern United club side which won the Jubilee Cup competition in Wellington last weekend, and tomorrow will signal the first appearance of Seumanata in the Wairarapa-Bush jersey.
He has the attributes of size and speed and it will be interesting to see whether he has the tactical nous to go with it.
Having Lafaele ? who actually plays on the wing for Northern United ? at fullback gives Wairarapa-Bush added strength in the goal kicking department, where he will be the understudy to Patrick Rimene. Lafaele finished the 2006 club season in the capital with close to 200 points, many of them from penalties and conversions.
He is a superb second string to Rimene, who showed excellent character last weekend to set aside an indifferent performance in general play by landing the sideline conversion which gave Wairarapa-Bush their one point victory.
Special guests at Saturday's game will be members of the 1956 Wairarapa-Bush side who lost to South Africa 19-8. As many as 10 of that team are expected to attend a luncheon at the union rooms before watching the NPC first division match.