Dynamic flanker Johan Van Vliet was in scintillating form as Eketahuna scored a 34-16 win over a gutsy Marist when the 2012 Wairarapa-Bush senior first division rugby competition got under way on Saturday.
One of the finds for Wairarapa-Bush on the representative scene last year, Van Vliet was the star act in the Memorial Park fixture, invariably being first to the breakdowns, running powerfully in broken play and making his usual high percentage of tackles.
It was appropriate that Van Vliet should score one of Eketahuna's five tries with a determined burst and just as appropriate that another try scorer should be fellow flanker Rupeni Tamani, who would have pushed him hard for player of the match award.
Tamani, too, made a number of surging runs and was in the face of the Marist inside backs when the ball came their way.
Another Eketahuna forward to shine was lock Dan Udy who made his share of clean lineout takes and was a willing workhorse in the tighter aspects of the forward game, along with Adrian Lochhead and Zac Wilkie.