Cup win begins to look good!

Wairarapa-Bush gave their prospects of winning the inaugural Meads Cup Heartland rugby championship a timely boost when they beat South Canterbury by a whopping 47-17 at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
The home team ran in seven tries and while conceding three to the opposition which was very ordinary, was disappointing, it was still an encouraging lead-in to what could be a crucial game against Wanganui at Wanganui next weekend.
Win against Wanganui and Wairarapa-Bush will guarantee themselves a home semi-final, and possibly a home final as well, lose and the chances are their semi will be at Oamaru against a dangerous North Otago outfit.,
Whilst they did fall 5-0 behind after South Canterbury scored an early try through bulky prop Foi Saena, Wairarapa-Bush soon asserted their superiority at both back and forward, so much so that their halftime advantage of 33-12 was, if anything, flattering to the visitors.
For if Wairarapa-Bush had most the most of all their scoring opportunities the southerners may well have found themselves another 15 to 20 points down going into the second spell.
Two or three times what looked like certain tries went begging because of the ball carrier attempting to beat one tackle too many, and there were a couple of occasions too where passes were spilled with the goalline beckoning.
It was pleasing though to see the Wairarapa-Bush forwards generally attaining their own ball at lineout time with the frequent use of short lineouts working well for them. And while they did have the odd problem with timing at scrum time, they generally provided a stable platform there
In the looser aspects of the forward game it was a no contest, with Wairarapa-Bush usually arriving at the breakdowns in good numbers and making decent metreage on the pick and go.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs were still guilty of the odd rush of blood in relation to their option taking, but through most of that first spell there was a slickness about their passing which had been missing in other home games.
Consequently the outside backs got far greater opportunity to show their wares and they often opened up the South Canterbury defence through their flair and elusiveness.
It would be fair to say the second half performance by Wairarapa-Bush was not as efficient as that of the first 40 minutes, but with the maximum five points already in the bag and the reserve bench being emptied out, that was always likely to be the case.
However, they still had a clear edge over South Canterbury in both the backs and forwards, and at no stage did the visitors look likely to make a comeback of any significance.
It was two of the hard men in the Wairarapa-Bush pack, lock Mike Robinson and hooker Joe Harwood, who were the standout players for the home side.
Robinson grafted away magnificently in the tighter phases of the game, with his ability to either steal or spoil opposition ball in the rucks and mauls being seen time and again.
Harwood overcame the problems he had with his lineout throwing in the Horowhenua-Kapiti game by usually hitting his targets there, scrummaged and mauled impressively and still found time to make some rampaging bursts in broken play.
There was a lot to admire too about the versatility of Fijian Tomasi Kedarabuka who played the first half at lock and the second half at blindside flanker. He was a veritable bundle of energy and one of his team's most punishing runners with ball in hand.
Openside flanker Sylvanus Iro was here, there and everywhere on both attack and defence before being subbed just after halftime, and No.8 Mike Spence ran powerfully off the back of the scrum.
In the backs it was wing Junior Togia who constantly grabbed the attention of what was a rather small-sized crowd considering the importance of the match. He made several sizzling runs with his nifty footwork often allowing him to make room for himself when he looked to be well covered.
On the other wing Francis Seumanutafa didn't see as much ball as Togia, but impressed with his hard chasing of kicks and willingness to try for the outside break and if centre Simanu Simanu was hampered by his recurring knee problem on attack he was still worth his weight in gold because of his stability on defence.
The late withdrawal through injury of second-five Nathan Couch saw Mike Shaw partner Simanu in midfield and he could feel well pleased with his all-round display. He linked well on attack and was sound on the tackle and the same could be said of fullback Peato Lafaele.
Junior Togia (2), Francis Seumanutafa, Peato Lafaele, Hamish McKenzie, Joe Harwood and Tomasi Kedarabuka scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush, and first-five Patrick Rimene, in what was a typically fine goal kicking effort, landed six conversions.
South Canterbury had two of the more impressive individuals on the paddock in lock Tui Tauelangi and prop Foi Saena, both of whom scored tries for them, along with substitute Callum Harrison. Fullback Nick Wilson added one conversion