Encouragement comes from unexpected areas

There was encouragement for both sides as Gladstone battled their way to a 28-20 win over Marist in their top-of-the-table Wairarapa-Bush senior first division championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
And, interestingly enough, the biggest portions actually came from unexpected areas with Marist contesting more evenly for possession than anticipated up front and Gladstone showing as much flair and penetration in the backs as their highly-regarded opposites.
The battle for forward supremacy lacked nothing on the score of physicality with both packs looking to use the "pick and go" as their main attacking weapon. Front rowers Richard Puddy and Kurt Simmonds, lock Andrew McLean and No.8 Steve Wilkinson usually managed to make good metreage for Gladstone in this respect but then so did Marist's No.8 Joe Nuku, lock Mike Kloeg and hooker Kyle Karaitiana.
Gladstone had slightly the better scrum and the more efficient lineout but Marist tended to build greater momentum in the rolling mauls though their lower body positions and created some useful turnover ball by often arriving at the breakdowns in bigger numbers.
The experience and guile of halfback James Bruce was a huge plus for Gladstone. He made life an absolute misery for his Marist opposite Daryl Pollock at scrum time, so much so that Marist constantly resorted to having No.8 Nuku take the ball up before it was delivered to his backs.
That at least nullified the nuisance value of Bruce to some degree but there remained a lot to like about his option taking on attack and his stoutness on defence.
The hefty punting and accurate goal kicking of first-five Dean Grant also made a lasting impression on proceedings for Gladstone as did the incisive running in midfield of Mike Shaw and Jordan Watene and the steadiness of Baden Stevenson at fullback.
Old hand Patrick Rimene was a standout in the Marist backline, choosing his options cleverly and, like Grant, raking off huge ground with his clearing kicks. Phil Aporo was his usual assertive self in midfield and Nathan Couch added punch to the attack when he joined the fray off the reserve bench late in the first half.
East Coast were given a decent bollocking at halftime in their match with Puketoi at Whareama.
A late converted try had given the Coasters a 7-0 lead at the break but coach Ritchie Robertson was unhappy with their lack-lustre style of play.
"They were just going through the motions, there was no urgency there," Robertson said.
"And they got the message well and truly, it was one of those old-fashioned type speeches which always seemed to do the job in our day!"
Well, whatever was said did have the desired effect as apart from the last 10 minutes when they again went off the boil East Coast dominated the second half action, scoring four more tries in their 27-7 victory.
Two of those tries were scored by wing Luke Shanks who always looked dangerous whenever the ball came his way. No.8 TK Karaitiana also impressed for the Coasters with his bruising runs, Craig Stewart was busy on the flank and Saan Aporo was handy at centre.
Puketoi had the misfortune to lose coach Tahi Hiroki with a neck injury caused when a scrum collapsed about midway through the first half. Hiroki was at lock and he knew he was in trouble when the scrum started to go to ground with his head stuck firmly between the hooker and prop.
"It was like my chin had joined up with my neck, I heard a crack but there was nothing I could do," he said yesterday while recovering at home. "But I had movement from the waist down and in the arms so while the neck was pretty damn sore I thought I probably wasn't too bad."
Hiroki paid tribute to the help he received from referee Andrew Stringer and several other bystanders who assisted him as the injury was assessed for while the ambulance was called at the time the incident occurred and play was held up for quite a lengthy period it did not arrive at Whareama until the game was almost over.
Happily for Hiroki the extent of the injury was found to be "not too serious" when X-rays were taken at Masterton Hospital but he doubts he will back in action this season, more bad news for a Puketoi team whose numbers have been depleted in recent weeks by a mixture of injuries and overseas players returning home.
An untried inside back combination worked the oracle for Pioneer in their 36-22 win over Martinborough.
Usual first-five Hoani Peacock had regular loose forward Lee Ewe outside him on this occasion and they consistently made life difficult for the Martinborough defence, Peacock with his dancing feet and speed through a gap and Ewe with his hard, straight running. He was seldom halted by the first tackle and had two tries to show for his efforts in a position which could become his own in the weeks ahead.
Other Pioneer players to shine in what was possibly their best overall performance of the season were loosie Nathan Rolls, lock Henare Te Whare and prop Cliff Graham.
Martinborough did their bit to contribute to what was an entertaining 80 minutes of rugby. They actually scored the game's first try and finished with four tries in all, two of them to one of their more potent attackers in Ewen Telford.
Greytown clinched a quarter-final spot with a 19-15 win over Eketahuna who still have some work to before they are in that situation as well. Greytown coach Stacey Grant was pleased with the manner in which his side raced out to a 19-0 lead but disappointed they had lost their focus in the latter stages and allowed Eketahuna to run them close. No.8 Johnny Avatea was again a star performer for Greytown, along with flanker Ryan Hardman, lock Norm Henricksen and halfback Fraser King. Taking the eye for Eketahuna were midfield back Jon Guillard and loosie Steve Olds.