Wairarapa-Bush head coach Mark Rutene had mixed feelings over his team's 29-23 loss to Mid-Canterbury in their top-of-the-table Heartland championship rugby match at Ashburton on Saturday.
While disappointed Wairarapa-Bush had lost after having their noses in front going into the last five minutes when Mid-Canterbury turned sustained pressure into a converted try, Rutene was pleased with the lift in intensity and skill levels from the previous match against West Coast.
"It was a good game of rugby. We started a lot better this time and kept it going all the way through," he said. "It was one of those games which could have gone either way, it always looked like it would go to the wire."
Wairarapa-Bush had the elements in their favour in a first half which ended with them 17-9 in front, thanks to tries to Paul Tikomainavalu and Johnie McFadzean, the latter's coming just before the break. The other points had come from the boot of Glen Walters, who had landed a penalty and converted both tries.
Unfortunately for Wairarapa-Bush the strength of the wind seemed to increase in the second half and they spent good periods in their own territory due to the accuracy of Mid-Canterbury's kicking game. However, they scrambled well on defence whenever the home team attacked and the two tries scored by the latter, both to Dwayne Burrows, came in the final 10 minutes of play.
