Forward power the key

Forward power could see Oldfields Wairarapa-Bush upset Wellington in their annual Jimmy Cotter Memorial Trophy rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton tomorrow,
Providing everybody pulls up fit and well after Saturday's round of premier division club games, the Wairarapa-Bush pack will ? on paper at least ? be one of the strongest fielded by the combined unions in years.
South African youngster Bertus Buckle, who has made such a big impression for Carterton over recent weeks, will join old hands Joe Harwood and Dylan Higgison in a front row which will not only anchor what should be a solid scrum, but which will lack nothing on the score of mobility as well.
Buckle and Harwood are both from the Chris Kapene mould of front rowers, who like nothing better to run the ball back at their opposition, while if Higgison isn't as porominent as them in broken play there will be be no more diligent worker in the rucks and mauls.
Carterton's Fijian duo Tomasi Kedarabuka and Langi Peters will give Wairarapa-Bush plenty of height in the locking position, and with it should come a steady supply of lineout ball. They too are quick about the paddock for big men and have the athleticism and Fijian flair to make an nuisance of themselves in an attacking sense as well.
Talented loose forwards are almost a dime a dozen in Wairarapa-Bush at the present time, and it will be Sylvanus Iro, Sam Henderson and Mike Spence who will be looking to call the tune for the home team there tomorrow. They are all punishing runners and doughty defenders with Iro one who is surely destined for higher honours in the not-too-distant future.
In Hamish McKenzie and skipper Patrick Rimene Wairarapa-Bush have oodles of experience in the crucial backline roles of halfback and first-five, but whether Glen Bunny will be able to take his place at second-five could not be confirmed at the time these notes were penned. He left the field injured during his Carterton team's club game with Greytown-Tuhirangi on Saturday and there must be question marks over his availability.
It would be a pity if Bunny is sidelined as he plays a similar type of game to Nathan Couch, who was such a key player in the second five-eighth role last season but is currently in the United States.
Last season's NPC third division player of the year Simanu Simanu should again de a dominant figure for Wairarapa-Bush in midfield, and both wingers Joji Tamani and Marika Kau are prolific try scorers at club and representative level.
Getting his chance to stake a claim for the fullback position left vacant by the absence of Dutch international Bart Vigurrs ? another of the star acts in 2005 ? is expected to be Gladstone utility player Duncan Rutherford. However, if Bunny 's injury counts him out then there must be a chance that Rutherford will join Simanu in the midfield.
In that case Marist's Lawrence Matthews, a gifted counter attacker, could be at fullback.
Wellington, as is usual for this game, will field very few, if any, serious contenders for a place in their NPC premier division squad, but they do, of course, have greater depth than Wairarapa-Bush and their side is sure to be a very competitive unit.
Many of their past victories in this particular game though have been based around dominating possession up front, and they just maybe in for a shock if they expect similar tactics to produce a win this time round.
CLUB GAMES
The two feature senior first division rugby matches in Wairarapa-Bush on Saturday produced the expected close finishes with Carterton edging out Greytown-Tuhirangi at Carterton 11-10, and Pioneer ending the unbeaten run of defending champions Eketahuna 14-13 at the Park Sportsground.
For Carterton it was their eighth successive Grant Cup win over Greytown-Tuhirangi ? or more correctly Greytown up until the last couple of seasons ? but it was a close go with the visitors having the mortification of seeing a conversion of a late try rebound off the crossbar. As it happened those two points would have seen the combined side celebrating at the game's end.
A draw would have been a fair result on the run of play. Carterton clearly had the better of the first 20 minutes in both halves and the same could be said for Greytown-Tuhirangi in the second 20 minutes of each spell.
The battle for forward supremacy came out about even too, with the two teams generally winning their own ball at scrum and lineout time and sharing possession from most other avenues too.
Outstanding for Carterton were front rowers Joe Harwood and Bertus Buckle who both made several storming runs, hard-working locks Shane Namana and Langi Peters and Tomasi Kedabaruka who had a fine all-round game on the flank.
A couple of front rowers in Brent Rudman and Dylan Higigson also took the eye for Greytown-Tuhrangi, as did lock Stu Weatherstone, a regular winner of lineout ball, and lively loosies Sylvanus Iro and Scott Gersdell.
The quality of back play did not match that of the forwards, with neither side making good use of the elements when they had the breeze at their backs. Both fullbacks, Jono Hurley (Carterton) and Jacob Ross (Greytown-Tuhirangi), were sound in their positional play and defensive work, and the two halfbacks, Jason Scott (Carterton) and Mike Hollis (Greytown-Tuhirangi), generally cleared the ball well.
It was Brown who scored Carterton's try with Hurley kicking two penalties. Stu Weatherstone and Tavita Isaac were the try scorers for Greytown-Tuhirangi.
Pioneer scored two converted tries in their upset win over Eketahuna in a game which was also as closely-contested as the final score would indicate. Jordan Fox and Tipi Timene were their try scorers and Richard Carroll importantly kicked both conversions. Steve Olds and Joji Tamani scored the tries for Eketahuna and Simanu Simanu kicked one penalty.
Marist ran in seven tries in their 45-3 win over Masterton Red Star in a Memorial Park encounter in which the Robin Elers Memorial Cip was at stake. Phillip Aporo scored two tries for Marist with others going to Geordie Walden Joe Nuku, Lawrence Matthews, Keiran Gleeson, and Adam Wichman. Paddy Rimene added five conversions. Henson kicked a penalty for Masterton Red Star.
Martinborough crossed the tryline on four occasions in their comfortable 28-3 win over Puketoi. Dennes (2), Te Kani and Luke were the try scorers and Renata kicked two penalties and one conversion.