Dates clash means import trio are out

A CLASH with club finals day in Wellington will mean Wairarapa-Bush will be without three of their "imported" players for their non-championship rugby match with Poverty Bay at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday, including the most recent addition to their squad
Newcomer Francis Seumanata and Peato Lafaele will both be playing for Northern United in the Jubilee Cup final against Petone while Mike Robinson will be turning out for Upper Hutt in their Hardham Cup final with Wainuiomata.
Seumanata's availability to play for Wairarapa-Bush throughout their NPC first division campaign which gets underway with a home match against Buller on August 19 was confirmed over the weekend.
The Samoan flier has just turned 20 and has been drafted into the Wairarapa-Bush squad because of a death of quality wingers, a situation compounded by the non-availability this season of the two Wellington ":imports" who made such a big impression in 2005, Esava Teko and Marika Kau.,
Wairarapa-Bush coach Peter Russell says Seumanata's speed should be a huge asset , along with his aggressive attitude, something gleaned from having played at loose forward earlier in his career.
"Obviously it helps if a winger has real pace and everything we are hearing is that he (Seumanata) has plenty of that," he said. "Hopefully he'll give an extra edge to our attack"
Lafaele was one of the stars in Northern United's crushing 56-17 semi-final win over Petone on Saturday, scoring a try and landing two conversions and a penalty goal.He played on the wing but the odds are strongly in favour of him being the first choice fullback for Wairarapa-Bush.
He played there in the Ranfurly Shield match against Canterbury and while Wairarapa-Bush were on the end of a good old-fashioned thumping he did enough to suggest he will be a very useful acquisition, both on attack and defence.And his goal kicking process might prove handy too although he is likely to be the understudy to Patrick Rimene in that department.
Robinson has been a part of the Wairarapa-Bush scene for some seasons now and actually skippered the union to success in the NPC third division competition last season.He has now been replaced as captain by Carterton hooker Joe Harwood but his experience in both the middle and back rows continues to make him a valuable member of the representative side.
Russell won't name his starting line-up for the Poverty Bay match until later in the week and the main interest will centre around who will be at fullback now that Lafaele is unavailable.
With no specialist fullbacks in the squad one of the utility backs will have to step in and the inside running seems to be held by Gladstone's Duncan Rutherford, who has played there before for Wairarapa-Bush this season.
The loss of Seumanata virtually guarantees that versatile Pioneer player Tommy Harmon will be on one wing with the only Wellington "import" available for next Saturday, Junior Togia on the other.
Without Robinson Fijian duo, Tomasi Kedarabuka and Langi Peters, are almost certain to start in the middle row They were both in dynamic form for Carterton in their premier division grand final win over Eketahuna some 10 days ago and Wairarapa-Bush will be wanting more of the same this time round.
The Poverty Bay match will also give another Carterton player in Brodie Duffin the opportunity to push for a starting berth once the NPC campaign gets into full swing. He too was outstanding in the premier division final with nothing impressing more than his close quarter defence around the fringes of the rucks and mauls.
Whether Duggin has the a ball carrying skills from the back of the scrum so necessary in a No.8 these days is still, however, a matter of debate and this will be his chance to answer any doubts in that respect..
Both Wairarapa-Bush and Poverty Bay will be going into Saturday's game as part of special training camps, Wairarapa-Bush at Papawai, starting on Friday night, and Poverty Bay in Palmerston North.
Poverty Bay have already indicated they will be giving their full squad a reasonable amount of playing time but whether Wairarapa-Bush will follow suit has yet to be decided.
However, with Russell keen to develop combinations and continuity leading into their opening NPC game the chances are that most of those on the reserve bench will be there for the first 60 minutes at least.