Champs wary of East Coast threat

Eketahuna won't be taking East Coast lightly in their Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby match at Eketahuna tonight.
The defending champions suffered their first defeat in a long time when they were edged out by Greytown-Tuhirangi seven days ago and are meeting an East Coast side growing in confidence after big wins over Masterton Red Star and Puketoi in their last two games.
The forward battle could decide this one. Eketahuna will fancy their chances of achieving a fair measure of superiority in the set pieces and, that being the case, the attacking talents of East Coast backs like first-five Te Maika Mason, midfielder Graham Bolstad and wing Nick Olson would probably be kept in check.
It could, in fact, be a couple of props who provide the individual highlight of the game. Eketahuna's Brendan Walker has been one of the mainstays of his side and the same goes for East Coast's Mike Peacock.
Both have the mobility to go with their size and it will be interesting to see which of the two has the most impact in tonight's game which, incidentally, will be controlled by one of the country's top ranked referees Bryce Lawrence.
Also of interest will be the crowd size as the match clashes with the crucial Super 12 encounter between the mighty Highlanders and the Hurricanes.Not the smartest programming really, is it?
Four other first division games will be played in Wairarapa-Bush tomorrow and another full round of matches will be staged on Anzac Monday.