Coach demands end to mistakes

A sot from the Heartland rugby Trust House Wairarapa-Bush and Poverty Bay clash at Memorial Park in Masterton, on Saturday.

IT WILL be pretty routine stuff at training for the Wairarapa-Bush Heartland championship rugby squad this week.

With the number of basic handling and passing errors reaching almost epidemic proportions in their last couple of games, head coach Mark Rutene and his assistant, Paddy Gough, intend to have them focus almost entirely on rectifying that situation.

"There's going to be a lot of pass, catch and carry. We have to get those simple things right if we are to start winning games," Rutene said. "You can't keep turning over ball like we are and expect to do well, and that's at any level of the game. It's just not good enough."

Rutene said it was hard to put a finger on why the ball was being coughed up so often.

"Sometimes it is a case of pressure from the opposition but more often it's our own doing.

"Maybe it's because the players are trying too hard or maybe it's a lack of concentration. Whatever it is we need to put it right."

Also frustrating Rutene in the 23-10 loss to Poverty Bay at Memorial Park on Saturday were the five penalties conceded at scrum time and the unusually high number of Wairarapa-Bush lineout throws either spoiled or won by the visitors.

"Again it's a question of giving up possession too easily. We have to be a lot more disciplined in those areas," he said.

Having lost three and drawn one of their four championship games, Wairarapa-Bush have virtually no show of repeating their effort of the last two seasons and making it through to the semifinals of the premier section, the Meads Cup.

They trail the fourth-placed side by 13 points and winning all four of their last qualifying round matches would almost certainly not be good enough.

What that would likely do, however, is qualify them for the Lochore Cup semis which are for the sides ranked fifth to eighth but Rutene isn't buying into that debate, saying he was wanting his players to look no further ahead than their next match against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin this Saturday.

"We'll worry about making the Lochore Cup semis further down the track if it becomes a possibility. Right now it's all about getting that first win." he said.

Disappointing as their Heartland campaign has been it seems Rutene and Gough will keep faith with their present squad..

"Frankly, I think we'll pretty much be sticking with what we've got. It's not a lack of talent which is the problem," Rutene said.

Having said that, it does seem likely they will have to find a replacement for first string prop Finnbarr Kerr-Newell who left the field with a calf injury midway through the first half and could be sidelined for the remainder of the season.

There could also be the temptation to promote exciting Marist utility back Malatai Malatai, a prolific try-scorer on the club scene and also impressive for the Wairarapa-Bush Bs on the wing in their 23-23 draw with Wanganui B on Saturday. His ability to create scoring opportunities out of nothing could be just what the doctor ordered for a Wairarapa-Bush backline struggling to get any zip into their attacking play.