Forwards hold key to King Country clash

Parity in the forward exchanges could be the key to victory for Wairarapa-Bush, in their NPC third division rugby match with King Country at Te Kuiti tomorrow
The home side will be well aware of the dangers posed them by the pace and flair of the Wairarapa-Bush outside backs, and are sure to place considerable emphasis on dominating matters up front.
Much then will depend on how the Wairarapa-Bush pack responds to that challenge.
They were entirely effective at both scrum and lineout time in the 50-3 thumping of Horowhenua-Kapiti last weekend, but whether they will claim anything like the same superiority over a big and mobile King Country eight is open to debate.
The scrum is less of a concern than the lineouts. The promoting of young South African prop Ashley Wells into the starting XV last weekend proved to be a positive move, with Wells not only scrummaging powerfully, but showing pleasing mobility about the paddock. At just 20 he looks to have a huge future in the game.
Wells and his cohorts in the front row, Rob Foreman and Dylan Higgison can expect a sterner test in the scrums from King Country, who have an old hand in that department, Paul Mitchell, as their assistant coach.
The lineouts have to be a worry.
Fijian lock Tomasi Kedarabuka was very much a lone hand there against Horowhenua-Kapiti and what a superb game he had, not only taking down heaps of quality possession for his own team but often spoiling opposition ball as well.
It's doubtful if Wairarapa-Bush will get away with relying to such a large extent on Kedarabuka tomorrow. King Country will have deduced he is the player to watch in that department and will have devised tactics to lessen his influence.
Therefore it will be vital that Wairarapa-Bush have other options, with skipper Mike Robinson and blindside flanker Sam Henderson the obvious candidates. Neither are specialist lineout men though, so expecting them to come up trumps on a regular basis is a big ask.
The other question mark over the Wairarapa-Bush forwards revolves around their ability to mount a strong defence when the King Country pack starts applying the pick-and-go tactic.
Horowhenua-Kapiti exposed definite deficiencies in the Wairarapa-Bush armour last weekend by making big gains whenever their forwards rolled away from the rucks and mauls, and coach Russell was concerned enough to have former All Black Brent Anderson help address that situation at training this week.
The message was that the defence needed to get themselves into position earlier with the idea of isolating the initial ball carrier and it will be interesting to see how the adjustments work tomorrow.
There are no such worries about the effectiveness of the Wairarapa-Bush loosies with Daimon Neal, Sylvanus Iro and Henderson sure to hold their own there.
Neal was especially prominent against Horowhenua-Kapiti, and it's remarkable to note the similarity in his style of play with that of another player who turned out for his Gladstone club not so many moons ago in Mike Fleming.
Neal has Fleming's high workrate on both attack and defence and his same high tolerance of pain?.something which goes hand in hand with their level of commitment.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs might have benefited from some lack-lustre (to put it mildly) defensive play from Horowhenua-Kapiti last weekend, but that could not detract from the excellent handling and passing skills they displayed, skills which allowed pacy outside backs Simanu Simanu,Jorji Tamani and Esava Teko every chance to strut their stuff.
And strut it they did, running in some spectacular tries from movements often started deep inside their own territory.
One hopes the backs continue to work with the same cohesion as that for the remainder of the season for they would have to be amongst the most dangerous attacking units in third division play, if not the most lethal of all.
Which is the very reason why Wairarapa-Bush should only need to break even in the forward exchanges tomorrow to continue on their winning way.
Bs IN GISBORNE
The Wairarapa-Bush B rugby side takes on their Poverty Bay counterparts in Gisborne tomorrow, after securing a deserved 13-7 victory over Horowhenua-Kapiti B's last weekend.
Coach Steve Thompson was pleased with that effort, especially the strong start and the manner in which moved the ball wide whenever the opportunity arose.
But at the same time he noted deficiencies, such as their lack of concentration in some defensive situations and lapses by the forwards in set piece play.
That the B's have moulded quickly into a unit is evidenced by the fact they have 24 players in their squad to travel to Gisborne, a far cry from many other seasons when trips of that magnitude had management working overtime just to get a full complement of players on the field.
On the home front the Wairarapa-Bush under-20's, which are also shaping up as a very useful combination, take on Horowhenua-Kapiti at Memorial Park, kick off at 2.30pm.