Double blow for Heartland opener

Wairarapa-Bush will be without halfback James Bruce and blindside flanker Nathan Rolls for their opening Heartland championship rugby match against West Coast at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
Bruce and Rolls were both standout performers in their team's gutsy showing against Wellington B in the last of their lead-up games last weekend but injuries suffered there could have them sidelined for several weeks, if not the remainder of the season.
One of the team's most experienced players, Bruce had to be helped from the field with a knee problem, the seriousness of which is still to be assessed, while X-rays have showed that Rolls broke a bone in his wrist.
The loss of Bruce is a severe blow because the depth at halfback is somewhat less than impressive although the situation has been helped by Greytown's Mike Hollis, who was originally unavailable for representative play, informing coach Kelvin Tantrum that he will help out this weekend if required.
That being the case the odds are that Hollis will be in the reserves with Carterton youngster Callum Buchanan, who replaced Bruce during the Wellington B game, starting off in the halfback role.
It will be a huge ask for Buchanan who was actually understudy to the now injured Justin Lett for most of the club season.
Just who will come in for Rolls on the blindside flank is not so clear. Maybe Wellington "import" James Measor will make his debut for Wairarapa-Bush there despite the fact he is more accustomed to playing at lock or thought could even be given to having Measor join Jared Bambry in the middle row and lively Fijian Tomasi Kedrabuka moving from lock to the side of the scrum.
Whatever that situation Measor has been labelled a definite starter for Saturday's match as has the second "import" in the Wairarapa-Bush squad, winger Junior Togia. The latter was down to play against Wellington B but a family bereavement meant he had to call off at the eleventh hour.
Bruce and Rolls were not, in fact, the only players to come out of the Wellington B with injury concerns.
Hooker and skipper Joe Harwood and second-five Nathan Couch both had calf strains and Tantrum wouldn't commit to more than "reasonably hopeful" when asked to assess their prospects of being available for selection for the West Coast match which incidentally, will start at the earlier time of 1pm to fit in with West Coast's travelling arrangements.
The curtain-raiser between Wairarapa-Bush B and Wellington Maoris will now get underway at 11.30pm while kicking off at 2.30pm will be a match between Wairarapa-Bush under-20s and the Army Academy.
Sponsorship from the Wairarapa Building Society means that entry to Memorial Park on Saturday will be free and, as an extra bonus, those children who attend with an adult will receive "Take the kids to the footy" packs which will include "goodies" from other local sponsors.
It would pay to get in early though as the number of packs are limited and they will be given away from noon onwards.