Kapene Cup decision imminent

The winner or winners of the Chris Kapene Memorial Cup for being the leading team at the end of one complete round of matches in the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union's premier division rugby competition won't be confirmed until tomorrow morning.
East Coast and Masterton Red Star both finished their first round campaigns on Saturday on 35pts and with no rules covering such a scenario the fate of the Kapene Cup was unclear.
And it will remain that way until tomorrow morning by which time all clubs should have given Wairarapa-Bush chief executive Phil Taylor verbal indication of what they see as the best outcome.
The three options available to them are to decide the winner by virtue of who won the clash between the two sides concerned (Masterton Red Star), of who had the best points differential over all first round matches (East Coast) or simply declare them joint winners because no rules had been established.
Inquiries by the Times-Age yesterday suggested the latter may be the most popular of the three, if only because it will involve no further controversy.
Meanwhile, experience won't be a common factor in this season's Wairarapa-Bush Heartland championship rugby squad.
But coach Kelvin Tantrum won't be using the loss of several members of his 2008 line-up as an excuse for failure this time round.
Rather, he is looking forward to the challenge of introducing numerous new faces to the provincial scene and he is optimistic of them making a positive impact too.
"We are not looking back, we have to focus on what we have now," Tantrum said when asked to assess what effect the loss of experienced campaigners such as Joe Harwood, Dylan Higgison, Mike Spence, James Bruce, Patrick Rimene and Nathan Couch was likely to have on Wairarapa-Bush this winter.
"Unions our size are always going to have changes of personnel from season to season, and dwelling on it really doesn't serve any purpose, does it?"
Tantrum says the immediate challenge for him and assistant coach Neil Foote is to ascertain which of the many promising youngsters playing on the club scene have the skills and the desire to succeed at a higher level.
And, to that end, a match to be played between Town and Country on Monday of Queen's Birthday Weekend the teams for which will be named later this week was likely to be a huge help.
"That game is going to spotlight the ability of players to handle the extra pressures of performing under the microscope, in some cases their future could depend on how they front up there," Tantrum said. "Right now I'm confident most of them will step up to the mark but the ball is in their court, we give them the opportunity and they have to take it."
Not surprisingly, Tantrum is keen to have his strongest possible team on the field for the Ranfurly Shield challenge match with holders Wellington at Memorial Park, Masterton on Thursday, July 2.
The likelihood is then that he will have at least some "imports" from outside the region in that side but he and Foote have no definite number in mind in that respect.
"Honestly, we haven't gone very far down that track at all," Tantrum said. "It's always been the intention to give local players every opportunity to press their claims and that's where we are at the moment. The emphasis will be on them for a little while yet."
Another poser confronting Tantrum and Foote is who will captain their Heartland championship squad this season now that last year's skipper Joe Harwood and his deputy, Mike Spence, are no longer available.
Tantrum says no clear favourite has yet emerged for the leadership role but there were "two or three good options" under consideration.