Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum has told his team to keep their feet on the ground.
Tantrum's initial comment to his players after their stunning 21-17 Heartland championship victory over Meads Cup holders Wanganui at Memorial Park on Saturday was to savour the victory but not let it go to their heads.
"Obviously everyone was rapt with the win but, in all honesty, there is still a long way to go before we start telling everybody how good we are," Tantrum said yesterday. "It's a decent step in the right direction, that's about as far as I would go."
Tantrum was delighted though with the manner in which his side answered the call to play good, sensible, structured rugby against a Wanganui side who were always going to be expansive in their tactical approach.
"Quite frankly we have not got to the stage yet where we can afford to be too flashy, the focus has to be more on doing the simple things well," he said. "For us it's more about playing the game in opposition territory rather than running the ball from all over the place".
Tantrum accepts Saturday's shock win will see Wairarapa-Bush go into the third of their Heartland pool games against East Coast in Ruatoria this coming weekend as warm favourites, especially with East Coast having already suffered hefty defeats at the hands of Wanganui and Buller.
But he is quick to note Wanganui were in the exact same position on Saturday and "look what happened to them".
"There's no room for complacency in any game, that much has already been made clear," he said." If you take anything for granted you will come a cropper, simple as that."
Tantrum and co-selectors Neil Foote and Steve Hurley will be faced with some interesting selection choices for the Ruatoria match.
Lock Tomasi Kedrabuka and No 8 Duncan Law both missed the Wanganui game through injury but are recovering well enough to suggest they could be back in the reckoning and there has been good news for flanker Jared Hawkins, who seemed likely to be out for the season after damaging a knee against West Coast in the Heartland opener.
His progress has been such that if he isn't available to play East Coast he could be ready for what seems certain to be a crucial encounter against table toppers Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin the following weekend.
Another quandary for the selectors heading into the Ruatoria game is what to do with their four "loan players", only three of whom can take the field in any one Heartland match.
Wing Junior Togia - arguably the side's most dangerous attacker - drew the short straw against Wanganui and halfback Nick Risdon, centre Siaosi Anamani and flanker Joss Tua-Davidson all had strong performances, especially Tua-Davidson whose physicality was a feature of an impressive forward effort.
Tantrum said it would be a case of the selectors taking a "horses for courses" approach with the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the opposition dictating which of the quartet missed out.
Bush keep boots well grounded after win
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.