The final score fairly represented the merits of the two teams when Greytown beat Eketahuna 17-15 in their Kapene Cup premier division rugby match at Eketahuna on Saturday.
Greytown, winners of both the Kapene Cup first round competition and the Tui Cup main championship title last season, deserved their narrow success because of the edge, albeit a slight one, they had in the forward exchanges.
Whereas two slick backlines basically cancelled themselves out apart from the odd piece of individual brilliance, Greytown's pack tended to make more metreage than their Eketahuna counterparts from the rolling mauls and short passing rushes, areas of play which became the main attacking weapon of both sides through the course of the game. Invariably leading the way for Greytown in those phases were Regan Pope and Gareth Van Dalen, both of whom gave performances which must have made the Wairarapa-Bush selectors sit up and take notice.
Pope, who would have been the front-runner for any player of the match award, was also a force to be reckoned with in the lineouts, a sphere in which Sam Marshall-Wilson also shone for Eketahuna. The scrums painted an interesting picture, Greytown being dominant through the first half and Eketahuna having the ascendancy in the second, especially after veteran prop Brendan Walker entered the fray. Walker, who has had more than 300 games in the Eketahuna jersey, knows every trick in the scrum book and used them to his advantage.
It was a couple of Eketahuna players who took the eye in the backs for their ability to make space for themselves in confined quarters. First-five Sam Monaghan and wing Paul Tikomainavalu were aggressive in intent and quick on their feet, and while centre Robbie Anderson had few chances to show his attacking wares there was an impressive soundness about his play for the home team as well.
