Coasters pip Wairarapa Bush

Credit where credit is due.
For sheer character and resolve, West Coast's upset 35-30 win over Wairarapa-Bush in their Lochore Cup Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday would take a lot of beating.
The Coasters travelled north with a squad so depleted by injury and unavailability that their Canterbury-based coach Anthony Lawry was forced to make up the numbers on the bench himself.
But you wouldn't have guessed it, judging by how they dismantled a shockingly lethargic home team in an opening 40 minutes, during which the Coasters went to the half-time break with a thoroughly deserved 25-10 advantage.
Not that there was anything special about the West Coast game plan. In essence the focus was on keeping Wairarapa-Bush under sustained pressure by playing most of the rugby deep in their territory and they did that well, either through well-placed tactical kicks or by keeping ball in hand and constantly exposing flaws in the Wairarapa-Bush defence by doing little more than running hard and straight.
Wairarapa-Bush, on the other hand, never got themselves out of second gear, and that's putting it kindly. Their forwards lacked the unity and purpose of their West Coast counterparts in all phases of play with possession being turned over several times simply because the ball carrier became isolated through lack of support. While the visitors arrived at the breakdowns in good numbers, Wairarapa-Bush were normally there in twos or threes, always a good recipe for disaster in the ball-winning stakes.
In back play, too, the Wairarapa-Bush first-half effort was well below acceptable standards with regular basic handling and passing errors being made, kicks constantly going to hand rather than space and the option taking ranging from bad to plain awful.
The two questions then, leading into the second half were, firstly, could West Coast sustain their effort in the energy-sapping summerlike conditions and, secondly, could Wairarapa-Bush find the necessary zip from their reserve bench to have a sudden change in fortunes? On reflection it could be said both those questions were answered in a positive vein. Yes, West Coast did have an early hiccup when they conceded an early converted try and another when a second converted try took Wairarapa-Bush to within four points off them at 28-24 but they were able to dig deep enough to weather that storm and come away with maximum points.
The Wairarapa-Bush second-half performance was several notches above that of the first, which was probably just as well for most in the small crowd would probably have left early to drown their sorrows had it not been so.
There was greater unity and aggression from the forwards, particularly in the mauls, and they obtained enough quality possession to give their backs the chance to show their attacking wares. Again, however, poor option taking raised its ugly head more than the rearguard would like. But at least when prime try-scoring opportunities arrived they turned them into valuable seven-pointers.
Their improved second-half display does suggest that some of those who started for Wairarapa-Bush on the reserve bench on Saturday could find themselves promoted to the starting line-up come next weekend's Lochore Cup encounter with Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin.
Foremost in that category would be lock Tomasi Kedrabuka, who shone in the lineouts and in broken play, hooker Richard Puddy, who was his usual busy self in all aspects of the forward game and utility backs Cyrus Baker and Nick Olson both of whom added punch to the attack.
Of those in the starting XV the pick were blindside flanker Joss Tua-Davidson, lock Andrew Mclean, prop Kurt Simmonds and wing Jesse McGilvary.
Tua-Davidson was one of the few who was all fire and brimstone right from the word go, the ever-honest McLean grafted away in typical style, Simmonds was noticeably effective in the mauls, and McGilvary showed nifty footwork and good determination in running in two tries.
West Coast's players had every reason to be jubilant at the game's end, considering the huge drain on their playing resources leading into this match. In halfback and captain James Ferguson they had the player of the match and others like No8 Mark De Goldi, flanker Simon Bourke and prolific-scoring winger Luke Hughes were impressive as well.
Hughes accounted for 20 of West Coast's points with a try, three penalties and three conversions and tries were also scored by Sam Hannan, Simon Bourke and Brad Houston.
Jesse McGilvary (2) and Mana Fairamo were the try scorers for Wairarapa-Bush and Jeremy Te Huia kicked three conversions and three penalties.