Coach keen to stick to locals

GOING FURTHER: Pioneer flanker Rima Marurai on the burst in a club match against Gladstone is a contender for a loose forward position in the Heartland squad.

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Josh Syms has not changed his mind on "imports" being added to his squad for the Heartland championship.

It's not that he is totally against the idea, just that he won't be going down that track unless he is convinced that those being recruited will offer something special to his side.

"I don't want players coming in from outside the local region who aren't significantly better than what we've got here now," he said. "If we bring them in they have to add that bit extra to the team, otherwise why bother."

It was hardly surprising the possible need for "imports" was being raised after Wairarapa-Bush's 58-7 loss to Hawke's Bay in the Ranfurly Shield fixture in Napier last Thursday.

They were totally outgunned in the scrums, struggled to gain any sort of parity in the lineouts and lacked sting in the midfield although the latter could be seen as a rather harsh judgment because of the lack of quality ball they received.

While conceding his team did have shortcomings in those areas, Syms said critics also needed to understand that Hawke's Bay were a professional unit with skilled players who had the benefit of a much more thorough preparation than their Wairarapa-Bush counterparts.

"It's a huge leap from club rugby to this level of competition for our guys and the set pieces are always likely to demonstrate that more than other areas.

"It was also going to be a big ask there."

Syms said there were enough positives from the Napier match to give optimism that Wairarapa-Bush would make their presence felt during their Heartland campaign. He was especially pleased with how the forwards scrapped aggressively for ball at the breakdowns and the surety of the first-up tackling through most of the game.

"Defensively we were pretty good, particularly when you consider they had most of the ball.

"We had to make a lot of tackles and, generally, we made a decent fist of it."

Syms said it was wrong to think, however, that those players involved in the Ranfurly Shield challenge necessarily had the inside running for Heartland selection.

With "friendlies" against the Manawatu development squad and Wellington Samoans and the annual Jeremy David Memorial Trophy match with Poverty Bay to be played before the championship starts, there was still time for others to force their way into contention.

"There are still some important club games to come and we'll be watching them closely," he said.

Those who could come off the fringes and into the Heartland squad include Marist backs Malatai Malatai and Michael Te Whare. Malatai is unquestionably one of the most gifted attacking players in the premier division club competition where he usually plays at fullback.

He still has work to do on his kicking game and might be best suited on the wing at rep level.

Te Whare is a strong-running midfielder who has overcome injury hassles.

Talented Greytown youngster Nick Robertson is a winger definitely worth consideration and there has been no better halfback on the club scene than Pioneer's Joseph Thompson, however, there is a question over his interest in playing at the higher level.

In the forwards, a couple of loosies not available for the Shield game who are sure to come into Heartland reckoning as the season progresses are Pioneer's Rima Marurai and Marist's Kieran O'Brien while Matt Kawana, also from Pioneer, perhaps has the potential to make a difference in the front row.