'Import' Te Huia sinks Buller

The golden boot of Wellington-based loan player Jeremy Te Huia took Wairarapa-Bush to a deserved 23-16 win over Buller in their Heartland championship rugby match played at Westport on Saturday.
With the home team forwards copping the ire of the referee on numerous occasions for killing the ball in maul and tackle situations, Te Huia was given ample opportunity to show his goal kicking prowess and he obliged, landing six penalties for a personal tally of 18 points.
And Te Huia's massive contribution to the Wairarapa-Bush victory didn't stop there, he also sent second-five Sam Mitchell in for his team's only try with a well-timed pass.
It was Buller, however, who put first points on the board when Andrew Stephens landed a penalty early in the game but just a few minutes later Te Huia evened things up at 3-3.
Wairarapa-Bush lock Brandon Young showed his strength and aggression with a rampaging burst, which turned defence into attack but the ball was lost and Buller counter-attacked, Te Huia being forced to make a hurried clearing kick to save the day.
A second Te Huia penalty in the 11th minute put the visitors 6-3 up and again Buller roared back on attack, Wairarapa-Bush flanker Rupeni Temani making a vital spot tackle to keep them at bay.
Te Huia kicked his third penalty from 45m out to give Wairarapa-Bush a 9-3 advantage and then Stephens goaled for Buller to again reduce the margin to three.
Second-five Sam Mitchell was dangerous on the crash ball for Wairarapa-Bush, invariably taking at least two defenders to halt his progress, while the Buller forwards, led by James Foster and Paul Rossiter, were giving as good as they received against a Wairarapa-Bush pack in which Young, Andrew McLean, Joe Harwood and Duncan Law were prominent.
Buller took the lead for the first - and as it turned out only - time when they took a tap kick from a penalty awarded close to the Wairarapa-Bush line and caught the defence napping, Joseph Bradley crossing for the try which Stephens converted. Buller 13, Wairarapa-Bush 9.
It was Wairarapa-Bush who had the last say in the first half with some spirited play from their forwards seeing the ball released to the backs and Te Huia putting Mitchell in for the try. The conversion attempt missed but Wairarapa-Bush went to the break 14-13 up.
The second spell was only four minutes old when Te Huia kicked his fourth penalty to ease Wairarapa-Bush out to a 17-13 lead and then Buller launched an attack through their backs which was ended with a possible try-saving tackle by Wairarapa-Bush fullback Nick Olson.
Buller's propensity to give away penalties in goal kicking range cost them another three points with the unflappable Te Huia on target again and Wairarapa-Bush wing Junior Togia was looking alert in broken play, making a couple of effective runs.
Lock Dan Griffin, who had come on for the impressive Young, showed his lineout skills by taking down clean two-handed ball for Wairarapa-Bush and the busy Temani made a likely burst but the ball was spilled as the goal-line beckoned.
Yet again the Buller forwards fell foul of the referee and Te Huia landed his sixth penalty, giving Wairarapa-Bush a comfortable 23-13 lead, and while the home team launched some likely attacks over the closing stages all it had to show for those efforts on the scoreboard was another Stephens penalty.
That was mainly due to some tight Wairarapa-Bush defence with burly prop Kurt Simmonds pulling off one important tackle when Buller moved the ball wide and an overlap seemed likely to occur.
Overall, the final scoreline of 23-16 to Wairarapa-Bush was a fair indication of the merits of the two teams and a promising start to their Heartland campaigns in 2011.
In other first round Heartland games: North Otago set a record for points scoring with their 116-3 win over East Coast, Thames Valley beat West Coast 36-18, King Country edged out Horowhenua-Kapiti 17-12, Wanganui beat South Canterbury 13-6 and Poverty Bay beat Mid-Canterbury 25-20.
Wairarapa-Bush play Mid-Canterbury at Memorial Park this Saturday.