They say in the acting game that a disappointing dress rehearsal is a portent for a good actual performance.
On the basis of Wairarapa-Bush's narrow 26-23 win over Otago Country at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday, let's hope that proves correct.
Because in just three weeks time Wairarapa-Bush kicks off its 2009
Heartland campaign with a long journey down to Greymouth to tackle West Coast and it's clear there's still a good bit of work to do before they can approach that game with any confidence.
Bearing in mind Otago Country's relatively lowly status (coach David Latta wants to see them in the Heartland championship, but they can't make a case for it next season), they should never have had the opportunity to get as close as they did to Wairarapa Bush by the end of Saturday's match.
Wairarapa-Bush started well and, apart from a try against the run of play by Otago Country five minutes into the match, they dominated large chunks of the first half both in territory and possession.
Frankly, they never really looked like losing the game, but as time wore on and mistakes grew, there was every chance the home team could have handed over an undeserved win to the boys from the deep south.
Wairarapa was camped largely inside the opposition 22 early in the match and for the first five or six minutes it looked like the home team would score first, but after an Otago Country defensive clearance inside was followed up quickly, they snatched possession and ran the ball right through the backline for wing Ben Purvis to dive over in the corner.
The conversion was missed.
From the restart Wairarapa-Bush went straight back on the offensive.
A long kick off put Otago Country immediately back under pressure and good followup from the forwards secured possession.
Wairarapa hammered away, keeping the play in tight and taking the ball back into the ruck three times before feisty number eight Duncan Law emerged and wended his way through a couple of defenders to cross over behind the posts and level the scores.
First five Byron Karaitiana levelled the scores to put the home team ahead.
Seven minutes later they were up 10-5 after Karaitiana thumped a big penalty from the halfway mark right over the black dot.
A subsequent penalty a few minutes later from 35 metres hit the posts and bounced back into the field of play, and for the next 20 minutes or so it was all Wairarapa-Bush.
They pinned Otago Country down in their half of the paddock for virtually all of this period and the visitors could only thank the booming boot of first five and captain Sam Young for keeping Wairarapa Bush at bay.
Whenever he collected the ball his massive punts eased the pressure on the visitors.
Karaitiana collected two further penalties and Young notched one for Otago Country in the spell to round out the first half with Wairarapa-Bush ahead 16-8.
But if the first half was largely one-way traffic, the second was certainly a much bumpier ride for the home team.
Both sides traded penalties early in the second spell before things started to go a little awry for Wairarapa Bush.
Up 19-11, the passes became wilder and sloppier, almost as if they felt they had the game in hand and go afford to free it up a bit.
Having kept it particularly tight in the first spell, the backs were getting a run in the second, but the ball handling was just too sloppy.
Wairarapa-Bush centre Hemi Tupaea charged down an Otago Country clearing kick near the line after 15 minutes, which was converted by Nick Olsen who took over kicking duties after Karaitiana had been subbed off, to take Wairarapa out to a 26-11 lead.
At that stage it should have been all over.
But Otago hit back with a try to halfback James Kenny, which was converted, closing the score to 26-18.
It got uncomfortably close eight minutes before the end when Wairarapa wing Junior Togia fumbled a high ball and the resulting spill was pounced on by Otago Country centre Lex Kaleca who drew a man before flicking on the second five Charlie Hore to cross the Wairarapa-Bush tryline. Wairarapa Bush 26, Otago Country 23.
Fortunately for Wairarapa-Bush that was the end of the scoring, but the degree by which they relaxed their stranglehold on the visitors will be some caused for concern for coach Kelvin Tantrum.
To be fair, virtually all the bench got a run in the second spell, which could have contributed to their near demise, but those bench players will be called on through the season and they'll need to be sharper.
In the end, Wairarapa-Bush was outscored three tries to two.
One of the home team's tries came from the well-performed forwards, the other from a fortunate charge-down, but for all their first half possession in particular, they should have been able to shut Otago Country down.
The good news is the team has three weeks to work on the problems, which are largely basic ball handling and retention issues.
The forward pack looks particularly solid, and on Saturday the standouts were number eight Duncan Law who had a strong game, and flanker Joss Tua-Davidson.
In the backs halfback Nick Risdon was in fine form and gave solid service to Karaitiana outside him.
But the further out the backline the ball went, the dodgier the handling skills became.
Later this month against West Coast, Meads Cup semi-finalists last year, they will need to be a lot more precise.
Wairarapa Bush 26
(Hemi Tupaea, Duncan Law, tries; Byron Karaitiana 4 pens, 1con; Nick Olson 1 con.) Otago Country 23 (Charlie Hore, James Kenny, Ben Purvis tries; Sam Young 2 pens, 1 con).
