Great start for Wairarapa

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Peter Russell got exactly what he wanted when his team beat Wanganui 25-8 in a non-championship match played in Palmerston North on Friday night.
Russell was keen for his side to not only win the game, but to win well enough to boost confidence for their forthcoming NPC third division campaign and they succeeded on both counts.
Stiff opposition was anticipated from a Wanganui side which plays a level above Wairarapa-Bush in the NPC and which were coming straight off the back of an intensive training camp.
But while they looked a handy enough side and had enough possession and territory to make a close game of it they were outgunned in the finishing department with
Wairarapa-Bush scoring four tries to their one.
That they kept Wanganui to a solitary try spoke volumes for the Wairarapa-Bush defence and it was that part of their game which most pleased coach Russell.
He was delighted that just about every time Wanganui created overlaps out wide they were swamped by the Wairarapa-Bush cover, often led by loosies Daimon Neal, Sam Henderson and Sylvanus Iro.
"The cover defence was outstanding, we cut down their space really quickly," Russell said. "And it was wasn't just two or three players doing the hard yards, it was practically everyone."
With Wanganui fielding a big pack there were some concerns that Wairarapa-Bush could struggle in the scrums but they put that worry to rest in the very first scrum when they had Wanganui on the pack pedal.
And while Wanganui did improve their effort somewhat markedly from then on the Wairarapa-Bush scrum continued to look the more stable of the two.
All of the Wairarapa-Bush front rowers made a good impression with particular interest being taken in the performance of young South African Ashley Wells who was brought into the team when Ritchie McDonald suffered an injury at training two days previous and was unable to play.
Wells came off the bench and not only did his share of graft in the tight but showed pleasing in broken play as well.
McDonald was not the only player to miss Friday night's match because of a training injury. In the same boat was his Carterton team-mate,lock Dan Filihiahekava, and his absence gave another newcomer in Corey Reid the chance to start at lock.
And Reid made every post a winner in his bid to clinch a permanent spot in the NPC line-up, taking down quality ball in the lineouts, displaying vigour in the rucks and mauls and making several crunching tackles on defence.
Reid's locking partner, Fijian Tomasi Kedarabuka, also had a fine game against what was his old province, shining at lineout time and showing similar mobility to Reid about the field.
The pace and constructiveness of their loose forwards was always likely to be one of Wairarapa-Bush main attributes and that it was. Neal, Iro and Henderson were all over the place on attack and defence and they clearly had the better of Wanganui in that department.
A slippery ball and a Wanganui defence which gave them little space in which to operate made life difficult for the Wairarapa-Bush backs in an attacking sense, but they did enough to show that few-if any-third division sides will have the same firepower out wide.
Centre Simanu Simanu, wingers Esava Teko, Jorgi Tamani and newcomer Marika Kau and fullback Bart Viguurs, all made the most of any chance they had to show their paces with Simanu, in particular, usually taking two or three defenders with him whenever he went for the outside break.
There were encouraging signs too that the rapid acceleration of Viguurs could be a huge plus for Wairarapa-Bush in attacking situations.
He ran off Simanu most impressively on a couple of occasions and their combination could well be lethal as the season progresses.
In the five-eighths it was a case of business as usual for the reliable Marist duo of Patrick Rimene and Nathan Couch and both halfbacks used, James Bruce and Charlie Bargh, could be well satisfied with their showings.
The ability of Bruce to "niggle" his opposing halfback into errors around the fringes of the scrums was often apparent.
Try scorers for Wairarapa-bush, which led 13-3 at halftime, were Simanu Simanu, Jorgi Tamani, Logan Ili and Bart Viggurs with Patrick Rimene kicking one penalty and one conversion.