Bush just come up short

LEADING FIGURE: Finnbarr Kerr-Newell, stood out in the Wairarapa-Bush pack.PHOTO/FILE

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.

Also helping the Mid-Canterbury cause was the goal kicking of Murray Williams, recruited from the Ponsonby club in Auckland. He landed seven from seven, five penalties and two conversions, for a personal tally of 19 points.

The two areas of play which had been most deficient against West Coast, ball retention and tactical kicking, were actually two of the more impressive aspects of the Wairarapa-Bush performance at Ashburton and there was a pleasing solidity too about their set piece play at scrum and lineout.

Prop Finnbarr Kerr-Newell again stood out in the Wairarapa-Bush pack with his storming runs and aggressive close quarter defence, lock Lachie McFadzean impressed as did Sam Marshall-Wilson, promoted to the reserves bench from the B's, made a decent impact when he entered the fray on the blindside flank.

Midfielders Byron Karaitiana and Titapu Pairama-Lewington were solid and while halfback Inia Katia did put a couple of kicks out on the full he was his usual livewire self.

Dwayne Burrows scored two tries for Mid-Canterbury and Murray Williams kicked five penalties and two conversions. Paul Tikomainavalu and Johnie McFadzean scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush and Glen Walters kicked five penalties and two conversions.

In other Heartland championship matches, defending Meads Cup champions East Coast were beaten at home for the first time in three years by North Otago when they went down 25-23 at Ruatoria but there was better news for last year's beaten finalists Wanganui who picked up their first win of the season. They had a nailbiting 24-23 success over South Canterbury. West Coast bounced back from their loss to Wairarapa-Bush the previous weekend with a 30-14 beating of Poverty Bay, Horowhenua-Kapiti defeated King Country 19-18 and Thames Valley had a 28-18 win over Buller.

Competition points: Mid-Canterbury 13, Thames Valley 12, Wairarapa-Bush 10, King Country 9, West Coast 9, Buller 6, Horowhenua-Kapiti 6, North Otago 6, South Canterbury 6, Wanganui 6, East Coast 5 and Poverty Bay 0.

Wairarapa-Bush hosts Horowhemnua-Kapiti at Memorial Park this coming Saturday.