Bush may lose skipper

Wairarapa-Bush could be without skipper Joss Tua-Davidson for their Heartland championship rugby match with unbeaten North Otago at Oamaru this coming weekend.

Tua-Davidson limped off the field with a medial ligament injury after their 26-11 loss to Buller at Memorial Park on Saturday and coach Mark Rutene gives him no better than a 50-50 chance of being fit enough for the North Otago match.

"Obviously, we'd like Joss to be there but right now there are no guarantees," Rutene said.

Tua-Davidson and fellow loosies Johan Van Vliet and James Goodger were three of the shining lights for Wairarapa-Bush in the Buller game. Rutene was pleased with the overall forward effort, excepting the lineouts where he felt the accuracy of the throws was not always up to scratch.

"The lineouts were a bit of a shambles at times but otherwise I thought the forwards were very competitive. They worked hard all the way through."

Rutene and assistant coach Steve Thompson will not name their starting line-up for the Oamaru game until later in the week but chances are that Jake Tipene, who plays for Bush Sports in the Manawatu competition, will make his first appearance in the hooking role.

What Rutene and Thompson will do with their backline after a Buller game in which the tackling and tactical kicking were a constant problem is the $64,000 question as the options are limited.

The positive impact Inia Katia made when he came off the reserves bench to play at halfback on Saturday could see him given a starting position and it will be interesting to see who out of Tommy Harmon and Sam Mitchell is at second-five.

That Trent Vatselias, who came off the reserves bench against Buller because he was still in the throes of recovering from sickness, will start is virtually certain but whether it will be at first-five or fullback - or even in midfield - remains to be seen.

They could even be tempted to try Nick Olson at, say, centre as he is clearly the best "stepper" in the side. Michael Vuicikau, who missed the Buller game through injury, should get a run, either at centre or wing.

Having suffered three consecutive losses, Wairarapa-Bush are basically out of the reckoning for the Meads Cup playoffs and they are in danger of missing the Lochore Cup playoffs as well.

The latter will be contested by the teams sitting between fifth and eighth on the competition table at the end of the qualifying round and Wairarapa-Bush are in 11th place, with only King Country behind them.