Dismal Bush give it away

Out-passioned, outsmarted and outscored.
That was pretty much the sum tale of Wairarapa-Bush's 53-26 thumping at the hands of Thames Valley in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
The most loyal of Wairarapa-Bush fans would have found positives in the fact the home team did "win" the second spell 26-25 after trailing 28-0 halftime and did manage to pick up one bonus point for scoring four tries.
But even they would have to admit by the time Wairarapa-Bush got their butts into gear Thames Valley already had victory signed, sealed and delivered, due to a mix of their own proficiency and the ineptness of their opposition.
That Thames Valley produced some high quality rugby can't be argued. Their forwards did everything required of them to obtain a regular supply of quality ball for a backline which did the simple things well, like creating overlaps through slick passing, diligently supporting the ball carrier and finding open spaces with their tactical kicks.
Impressive as they were, however, any praise has to be tempered to a degree by the knowledge that probably never again this season will they come up against opposition whose first half effort will be as dismal and flat as was that of Wairarapa-Bush on this occasion.
Dismal would, in fact, be putting it mildly. The intensity and unity which had marked their upset win over Poverty Bay in a non-championship match seven days earlier had obviously been left in Gisborne and Thames Valley could not believe their luck.
Rather than confronting a Wairarapa-Bush pack with the anticipated aggressive mindset they found themselves able to dominate the ball winning departments without a shot in anger being fired against them.
Nowhere was the lack of urgency in the Wairarapa-Bush forward play more apparent than in the mauls. Invariably there seemed to be only a couple prepared to scrap hard for possession while the others hung around the fringes.
It was similar too in the looser aspects of the forward game. Whereas Thames Valley tended to arrive at the breakdowns in numbers Wairarapa-Bush got there in dribs and drabs.
But of all the Wairarapa-Bush woes in an entirely forgettable first 40 minutes it was their defensive effort, especially in the backs, which had a good-sized crowd stunned in to silence.
The number of first tackles missed must surely have been some sort of record and that was compounded further by poor positional play which allowed Thames Valley to find gaps out wide almost at will.
So poor had been Wairarapa-Bush's first-half performance, in fact, Thames Valley were almost able to score at a rate of a point a minute, and there was the awful prospect of a drubbing of herculean proportions come the game's end.
Fortunately that didn't happen, and for two reasons.
Firstly Wairarapa-Bush did lift their effort several notches, aided and abetted as they were by the addition of fresh legs from the reserves bench. The intensity was still not all it should have been but there was clearly a greater resolve, so much so they probably had an edge in both territory and possession. Their four tries was certainly four more than would have been expected by most pundits at the halftime break.
Secondly, Thames Valley had already done enough damage to guarantee them maximum points and they did take the foot off the pedal to some extent. For instance, a couple of tries were "bombed" through carelessness which had not been apparent in the first 40 minutes. There were occasions too when their defence wasn't as sound as it had been previously.
Individually there would have been very few Wairarapa-Bush players who trekked off Memorial Park satisfied with their own contributions.
Indeed it says something about the way the game went that it was those who started on the reserves bench who could perhaps be given the biggest accolades.
In what was his first appearance at this level Marist loose forward James Goodger was a positive influence when he entered the fray, covering acres of territory on attack and defence and getting through some useful lineout work too.
Prop Wilbur Davies added much-needed oomph in the tighter elements of the forward game and the arrival of Tommy Harmon in midfield did stiffen the defence and give greater sting to the attack.
Of those in the starting line-up fullback Trent Vatselias, another making his debut at this level, scored a couple of excellent second half tries, both of them of his own making, and he definitely got better.
Nick Olson didn't get too many attacking chances on the wing, but still managed to make a couple of his usual darting runs and Tipene Haira played soundly enough at first-five to suggest he could be worth persevering with in that role
Up front, hooker Campbell Lawrence would have got a pass mark for his determination in scrapping for maul ball and Andrew McLean was typically industrious at lock.
Thames Valley had the player of the match in first-five Joe Reynolds whose tactical nous was always evident while others to take the eye for them were wing Jimmy Horsfeld, halfback Aaron McDonald, prop Barton Thompson and flanker Jackson Achilles.
Jimmy Horsfeld (3), Neil Douglas, Chris Elder, Bryn Hudson, and Bruce Jones scored tries for Thames Valley and Joe Reynolds kicked four penalties and three conversions.
Trent Vatselias (2), Tommy Harmon and James Goodger scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush and Tipene Haira kicked three conversions.
Wairarapa-Bush travel to Methven to play Mid-Canterbury next weekend. Both teams will go into the match on equal footing as Mid-Canterbury lost 15-13 to East Coast on Saturday. Other Heartland matches saw Buller beat Poverty Bay 18-14, Wanganui beat King Country 50-19 and Horowhenua-Kapiti beat South Canterbury 24-20.