Final beckons but focus needed

It was a case of mission accomplished when Wairarapa-Bush scored a 36-10 win over Mid-Canterbury in their NPC third division rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
The manner of victory might not have done anything like true justice to the capabilities of the current Wairarapa-Bush side, but the important thing was it meant they finished the preliminary round at the top of the points table and guaranteed themselves a home semi-final next weekend
And, just as importantly, it also meant that should they win that semi-final game .against fourth placed Buller they will also be at home for the grand final on October 15.
It would be kind to describe Wairarapa-Bush's display on Saturday as indifferent.
Playing in front of a large and supportive crowd, they showed only brief glimpses of their full potential, and their inadequacies were such that while they still deserve to be favourites for the third division title they are somewhat short of the "certainty" category.
In fact, play like they did in their latest game in the semis and their championship aspirations will surely be dashed , and that's into account that former high fliers Buller are on the slide, having taken a hammering in their latest two games.
The regular conceding of penalties, especially in the rucks and mauls, has to be a huge concern for Wairarapa-Bush leading into the business end of the season.
Saturday's referee, Matt Peters of Bay of Plenty, punished them unmercifully for their sins- or should we say supposed sins ? in that phase of the game and while it was obvious that the Wairarapa-Bush players themselves were often struggling to come to terms with his rulings, it's by no means the first time this season they have suffered in that respect.
In fact, there have been very few games where they haven't been on the wrong end of the penalty count, a dangerous statistic leading to in to semi-finals and finals where the odd penalty goal or two could have a crucial bearing on the end result.
Another bug-bear for Wairarapa-Bush in Saturday's match was the inordinately large number of times ball was turned over in tackles.
Often the ball carrier seemed to be at fault there, either through poor body position when going to ground or through becoming isolated from his supports, but it seemed too that some forwards weren't working hard enough to get to the breakdowns at times. Whereas Mid-Canterbury would arrive in three and fours Wairarapa-Bush were doing so in ones and twos, and you seldom win the battle when that is the case.
The option taking of the Wairarapa-Bush inside backs wasn't always as precise as it could have been either. A swirling wind didn't make life easy as far as tactical kicking was concerned but why on earth they continually tried to run the ball out of trouble when deep inside their own territory was hard to fathom.
That, and a surprising hesitancy in some of their passing, meant that a rearguard which has looked the most lethal attacking unit in the whole of the third division were seldom seen at their best in this particular game.
There were plusses in the Wairarapa-Bush performance too though, none more so than their absolute dominance at scrum time.Indeed they were almost embarrassingly superior there with Mid-Canterbury often struggling to keep their feet, let alone maintain a stable platform.
Front rowers Joe Harwood, Rob Foreman and Dylan Higgison can obviously take a lot of the credit for their team's efforts there and, what's more, all three were rampaging runners with ball in hand as well.None more so than Harwood who made a couple of 20 metre dashes which had would-be tacklers scattering in all directions.
The Wairarapa-Bush lineout wasn't exactly fool proof, as much because of the tricky wind as anything else, but for the umpteenth time this season lock Tomasi Kedarabuka was a standout in that department. He did create problems on a couple of occasions by tapping the ball back rather than gathering it with two hands but generally he was as safe as a house whenever he was required to do the business there.
It was hard to quibble about the Wairarapa-Bush defensive effort with midfield backs Nathan Couch and Simanu Simanu setting the standards.They relished any one-on-one confrontation and cut down many a Mid-Canterbury attack before the advantage line was breached.
Simanu also provided one of the game's highlights when he raced over 80m for a try late in the game although one might question the wisdom of him giving a poor imitation of a Campese "goose step" as the chasers closed quickly on him..
Openside flanker Daimon Neal was another to shine on defence until he left the field injured midway through the first spell while skipper Mike Robinson shirked nothing in that phase of the game either.
Another plus for Wairarapa-Bush was the flair shown by fullback Bart Viguurs on the counter attack His try came just a minute after that of Simanu and was a classic illustration of his pace and determination.
The Dutch international was probably thanking his lucky stars that he had been able to make up for the glaring defensive error he made when Mid-Canterbury scored their only try of the match.
Viguurs elected to try and keep a ball heading into touch in play and did so, only to have the bounce elude both himself and his support. Instead it went into the hands of Mid-Canterbury fullback Marc Pringle and he gratefully accepted the try.
Wairarapa-Bush, which led 17-3 at halftime, scored tries through Tomasi Kedarabuka, Simanu Simanu. Nathan Couch and Bart Viguurs and they were also awarded a penalty try.That occurred after Viguurs was taken out of play when looking certain to re-gather the ball after putting in a chip kick close to the Mid-Canterbury line.
Patrick Rimene added the extra points for Wairarapa-Bush with four conversions and one penalty. Marc Pringle scored Mid-Canterbury's sole try and David Maw kicked one conversion and one penalty.