Injury takes heavy toll

It wasn't the 57-0 defeat which caused Wairarapa-Bush most grief after their representative rugby match with Wellington B at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
Rather, it was an injury toll which had four of their key players, halfback James Bruce, second-five Nathan Couch, blindside flanker Nathan Rolls and hooker and skipper Joe Harwood all in danger of missing their team's opening Heartland championship match against West Coast, also in Masterton, next weekend.
Bruce was helped off the field with a sore knee, Couch and Harwood have strained calf muscles and Rolls a badly swollen wrist.
Having any of this quartet absent from the West Coast match would be a decent blow for Wairarapa-Bush, especially Bruce as the halfback stocks have decreased alarmingly in recent times through the unavailability of three of the main contenders to be his understudy, Justin Lett, Zeb Aporo and Mike Hollis.
Lett too is injured while Aporo and Hollis have other commitments.
Coach Kelvin Tantrum yesterday declared Bruce and Rolls as "very doubtful starters" for next weekend with Harwood and Couch much more likely to be fully recovered.
And he agreed that management would be putting on their "thinking caps" over the halfback quandary should Bruce be out, a situation which would probably have Callum Buchanan, who had a handy enough game when he came off the reserve bench against Wellington B, suddenly being elevated to first choice.
Saturday's match was a classic case of the importance of pace in modern day rugby.
No one could question Wairarapa-Bush's endeavour or courage but they were simply run off their feet by a slick Wellington B outfit which scored nine tries in a thoroughly entertaining display.
Making their advantage in sheer speed even more telling was the fact that the visitors also had a commanding advantage when it came to territory and possession.
They dominated these crucial aspects of play to the point that when Wairarapa-Bush actually managed to string two or three phases together late in the match there was an audible sigh of collective disbelief from their small band of supporters who had become so accustomed to seeing them in defensive mode.
Unfortunately they couldn't manage to score what would have been their first try of the season then, or earlier in the game when centre Jordan Watene made one of the best solo bursts of the game but was unable to link up with his supports.
It was a pity for Wairarapa-Bush that Watene for one didn't get the chance to show his attacking capabilities more often for even though his opportunities were limited he impressed with his willingness to run hard and straight, and his acceleration once through the gap.
He probably needed a strong effort to clinch a starting spot in midfeld for the West Coast match and this was surely it.
Watene was not the only Wairarapa-Bush to come through a difficult game with credit though. The experience and guile of Bruce at halfback was always evident while he was on the park, Patrick Rimene was sound at first-five and while fullback wouldn't have been anybody's favourite position on a day when the opposition were running at you all game Dean Grant's tenacity on the tackle was never in question.
The Wairarapa-Bush forwards were a country mile behind their opposites when it came to speed around the paddock with most of the Wellington B tight forwards giving a good impression of outside backs any time they had the ball in hand.
In the set pieces of scrum and lineout, however, Wairarapa-Bush did not do too badly considering the size of their opposition.
Durable front rowers like Dylan Higgison, Joe Harwood and Brett Rudman made certain there was at least a fairly stable platform at scrum time while Tomaski Kedrabuka, and to a lesser extent Rolls and Jared Bambry, ensured their team took down most of their own lineout ball.
Kedrabuka, in fact, was the home team's player of the match, backing up his lineout skills with a huge output in all other facets of the forward game.
His tackle rate would have been immense for a player in any position let alone lock.
Loosies Rolls, Jared Hawkins and Mike Spence also defended stoutly, particularly Hawkins whose assertive in-your-face approach looks set to make him a very influential performer during his team's Heartland campaign.
There, he will appreciate the chance to roam wider than he has been able to do in the lead-up matches.
For coach Tantrum Saturday's performance was, injuries apart , a step in the right direction "They (Wellington B) are very skilful but we stuck at it well and can feel reasonably happy about we played," he said.
"We wanted an improved performance and I think we got it."
Brendon Watt, Willie Lafaele, Sinopti Toomaga (2), Mark Reddish (2), Lui Aukoso, Milisuni Moananu and Sio Tuia scored tries for Wellington B and Seminar Manu kicked six conversions.
The curtain-raiser match saw Wairarapa-Bush B make their first appearance of the season and after trailing Wellington under-19s by just 10-5 at halftime they were beaten 34-10.
Evan Small, Daryn Walker and Kyle Karaitiana had strong games for Wairarapa-Bush up front and Joe Hull and Richard Tosswill were a sound inside back combination.