Fullback dearth prompts Russell to opt for import

The leading points scorer in Wellington club rugby this season, Northern United fullback Teato Lalfaele, will play for Wairarapa-Bush in their Ranfurly Shield challenge match with Canterbury at Jade Stadium, Christchurch next Tuesday, and in their NPC first division matches which follow.
Lalfaele, who has already racked up 170 points for a Norths side which is leading the Jubilee Cup competition, has been "imported" by selector-coach Peter Russell because of a dearth of quality specialist fullbacks on the .local club scene.
Illustrating this is the fact two of the players trialled there in the three non-championship games played by Wairarapa-Bush so far this season, Duncan Rutherford (Gladstone)and Kingi Kaiwai (Greytown-Tuhirangi) are both more accustomed to playing in midfield while the other, Eketahuna's Daniel Elms, is a specialist fullback but was not considered for the Shield match because of injury.
Also out of the reckoning were the two players who filled the fullback role when Wairarapa-Bush won the NPC third division title last season.
Dutch international Bart Viguurs was a star act then but is not returning for the 2006 season and his understudy, Carterton's Glen Bunny, is, like Elms, battling injury problems.
Coach Russell believes Lalfaele has the potential to be a trump card for Wairarapa-Bush , being not only an accurate goal kicker but a player with similar counter attacking abilities to Viguurs. "He has a strong all-round game and should fit in well with the type of rugby we are looking to play," he said.
Lalfeale looks likely to be one of three Wellington-based "imports" in the Wairarapa-Bush squad for their Ranfurly Shield challenge although one of the other two, lock Mike Robinson, is no stranger to the Wairarapa-Bush jersey, having led them to their NPC third division title win last year and on numerous other occasions.He is currently playing his club rugby for Upper Hutt.
Robinson seems sure to lock the Wairarapa-Bush scrum next Tuesday with Fijian Tomasi Kedarabuka while the third "import", Junior Tongia is almost certain to be on the wing. He scored three tries for Buller in two games against Wairarapa-Bush last season and is now playing at club level for Tawa.
The Shield game would be his debut match for Wairarapa-Bush with injury ruling him out of contention for the earlier non-championship fixtures.
The bad news for Wairarapa-Bush leading into what will be their first challenge for the famed "Log of Wood" since 1998 is that two of their key players, centre Simanu Simanu and prop Dylan Higgison, both have knee injuries which could see them sidelined for next Tuesday.
Simanu, the NPC third division player of the year last season, is a powerful influence on both attack and defence and would be a huge loss for a Wairarapa-Bush side intent on adopting a confrontational approach against the might of Canterbury. In that case the choice for centre would probably come down to the Gladstone duo, Duncan Rutherford or Mike Shaw.
Higgison is one of those unsung heroes of the front row, a player who does the hard yards at scrum time and in the darker recesses of the rucks and mauls. Complicating matters there is that his most obvious replacement at tighthead prop, Eketahuna's Brendan Walker, has a similar knee injury which could rule him out as well.
The starting line-up for the Wairarapa-Bush side next Tuesday won't be confirmed until after club games on Saturday but could be:
Teato Lalfaele; Tommy Harmon, Simanu Simanu or Duncan Rutherford, Nathan couch, Junior Tongia; Patrick Rimene;
Hamish McKenzie or James Bruce; Sylvanus Iro; Mike Spence, Tomasi Kedarabuka, Mike Robinson, Sam Henderson; Dylan Higgison or Brendan Walker, Joe Harwood (captain), Brett Rudman.