Wairarapa-Bush showed some encouraging signs in a 30-25 loss to New Zealand Universities in a rugby match before a small crowd at Memorial Park, Masterton, yesterday.
The home team went in on a limited preparation and were generally expected to be outgunned by a Universities combination set to play their Japan counterparts in four days, but gave every bit as good as they got.
It was, in fact, Wairarapa-Bush who called the tune early and an upset victory looked on the cards when they raced to a 17-5 lead. However, Universities struck back to even things up at 20-20 before scoring two quick tries to lead 30-20.
The closing stages were all Wairarapa-Bush and a try with two minutes left closed the gap to 30-25. And they seemed to have snatched at least a draw on fulltime when midfielder Jesse McGilvary grabbed an intercept and touched down, only for referee Andrew Stringer, after consulting his assistant, to rule the ball had gone forward from a Wairarapa-Bush hand before McGilvary pounced.
Several Wairarapa-Bush players made the most of their chance to push for selection in the Heartland championship squad.