Hayton in doubt for crunch rugby clash

Wairarapa-Bush may be without star winger Cameron Hayton for their vital Heartland championship rugby match with Horowhenua-Kapiti at Levin on Saturday.

Hayton was forced to leave the field early during the match with North Otago at Memorial Park last weekend with a sore calf muscle, just as he had to in the previous match with King Country in Taupo.

Head coach Mark Rutene said Hayton's fitness would be closely assessed at training tonight and put the odds of him starting on Saturday at "no better than 50-50".

The only other injury worry in the Wairarapa-Bush squad surrounds inside back Byron Karaitiana, who was troubled by a sore shoulder after the North Otago game. However, he is expected to be fully recovered by the weekend.

A win to Wairarapa-Bush over Horowhenua-Kapiti would guarantee them a Meads Cup semifinal, even perhaps a home semi if Poverty Bay manages to upset near neighbours East Coast on the same day.

Conversely, a loss would very probably see Wairarapa-Bush complete the qualifying round outside the top four and into the semifinals of the second-tier competition, the Lochore Cup.

Their below par effort in the 28-21 loss to North Otago may actually prove to be a blessing in disguise for Wairarapa-Bush going into the Levin match.

On the basis of what the two teams have achieved so far this season, a handsome Wairarapa-Bush victory should be on the cards. They have scored two big wins over Horowhenua-Kapiti in warm-up games and, while they can still make the Meads Cup semis, Horowhenua-Kapiti are basically out of the reckoning for that and the Lochore Cup semis.

Rutene knows, however, that if Wairarapa-Bush show the same lack of precision and intensity in their play as they did against North Otago they will be in trouble, especially with Horowhenua-Kapiti fronting up for their last game of the season in front of their home fans.

"They are not going to make it easy for us and we've already had the reminder of what can happen when the attitude isn't what it should be," Rutene said. "Everybody is keyed up for this one, complacency won't be an issue."

Tuesday night's training session saw the Wairarapa-Bush squad focusing on fine-tuning their defensive structures and option-taking, two areas which let them down so badly against North Otago.