Injuries may prove positive

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Peter Russell is taking a positive stance on being without so many of his first choice players for the Jimmy Cotter Memorial Trophy match against a Wellington XV at Memorial Park, Masterton tomorrow.
Injuries and unavailabilities have taken the number of withdrawls to around the double figure mark but rather than dwell on his misfortunes Russell says they could prove to be hugely beneficial in the longer term.
"What has happened is that a number of players who might otherwise never have had the chance will now get the opportunity to show they are capable of playing at a higher level, " he said. "It'll give us a good idea of what sort of depth we've got, that's for certain."
Russell believes the biggest test for his team will revolve around coming to grips with the greater pace and intensity of representative rugby.
"There is going to be a huge difference between what they have been experiencing in club games and what will be required for us to be competitive tomorrow,"he said. "It will be interesting to see how we cope."Russell does not envisage his forwards spending a lot of time in the set pieces. Rather he wants them to utilise their mobility to the fullest extent.
"We know the lineouts and the scrums are going to be hard work and the fewer we have of them the better for us," he said. "We have to be quick to the breakdowns and just as quick at freeing the ball up. We can't afford to be static in our approach".
The acid will be on the Wairarapa-Bush loose forwards, in particular, to make those tactics work.There are six of them in the squad with only Sylvanus Iro and skipper Mike Robinson having been regulars on the rep scene over the past season or two. So tomorrow is a royal opportunity for Damon Neal, Rob Dick, Shem Crafer and Nathan Rolls to demonstrate their talents.
Dick, who has played for Marlborough, has had a slow start to the season because of injury but Neal, Crafer and Rolls have all been standouts for their respective club sides, Rolls both as a loose forward and a fullback.
There is no shortage of attacking skills in the Wairarapa-Bush backline with old hands like Hamish McKenzie, James Bruce, Patrick Rimene, Nathan Couch, Simanu Simanu and Jorgi Tamani sure to lead the charge in that respect.
The form of young Gladstone fullback John Uys, who is new to this level of play, will be watched with special interest. His club form has been outstanding but he can anticipate a much heavier workload on defence in this particular game.
A strong effort here and Uys could become the permanent replacemenet in the custodianal role for Richard Carroll, last season's regular fullback for Wairarapa-Bush who is currently battling an injury which could sideline him for several weeks yet.
The Wairarapa-Bush squad for tomorrow is:-
Backs: James Bruce, Victor Thompson, Patrick Rimene, John Dodd, Nathan couch, Simanu Simanu, Ben Couch, Tommy Harmon, Jaco Pieterse.Fitti Foulouse, John Uys.
Forwards: Jon Tanner, Logan Ili, Rob Foreman, Richard McDonald, Dylan Higginson, Brendan Walker, Steve Wilkinson, Corey Reid, Nathan Rolls, Rob Dick, Sylvanus Iro, Shem Crafer, Damon Neal, Mike Robinson.
Tomorrow's curtain-raiser should be very bit as entertaining as the main billing. It will feature the first XV's from Kuranui College and Wairarapa College. Kick off for that match is 1.30pm.