Massive win rekindles Wairarapa?s title hopes

Wairarapa-Bush made a one-horse race of their NPC third division rugby match with Horowhenua-Kapiti at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday, scoring seven unanswered tries in their massive 50-3 win.
It was a stunning result considering that Wairarapa-Bush had lost to last season's third division cellar dwellers Buller the previous weekend while Horowhenua-Kapiti had beaten one of the competition favourites, King Country.
The shape of the game was actually decided within the first five minutes. The home team were intent on knocking the wind out of the visitor's sails by taking an early advantage and they did exactly that, following a Patrick Rimene penalty with a Simanu Simanu try which was created by an astute tactical kick from Nathan Couch. For Simanu it was a simple case of chase and collect and he did the business. Rimene converted and Wairarapa-Bush led 10-0.
It was a lead which a strangely disjointed Horowhenua-Kapiti side never threatened.
There were brief occasions through the remainder of the first half where they did advance deep into Wairarapa-Bush territory, but invariably basic handling and passing errors saw ball turned over and returned downfield with interest. So come halftime and all they had to show for their efforts was a Dion Nepia penalty.
Wairarapa-Bush, on the other hand, were far more clinical in their finishing work. Speedy wing Esava Teko scored try number two for them after the initial thrust had been made by Nathan Couch and with Rimene adding another couple of penalties they were ahead by a comfortable 21-3 at the break.
The second half began with Horowhenua-Kapiti making the play but they were again rocked back on their heels when a loose pass was intercepted by Wairarapa-Bush wing Jorji Tamani and he scampered all of 70m for the try. Rimene converted and the home team were singing ragtime at 28-3.
It was Rimene who scored the bonus point try for Wairarapa-Bush. The backs launched a strong attack and Nathan Couch found open spaces. He probably could have gone all the way but elected to throw a deft pass behind his back to the supporting Rimene who dived over in the corner. And he provided the icing on the cake with a superb conversion from the sideline to give Wairarapa-Bush a 35-3 lead.
With the result all over bar the shouting, both sides emptied out their reserve benches for the last quarter, but that did not stop Wairarapa-Bush from continuing to call the tune.
Tamani scored his second try after forwards and backs had combined in a spectacular passing movement, Simanu also made it try number two for himself after he shredded a weak Horowhenua-Kapiti defence and finally fullback Bart Viguurs brought up the half-century when he crossed in the corner.
So huge was the winning margin, the obvious question at the game's end was had Wairarapa-Bush played that well, or was it more of a case of Horowhenua-Kapiti playing badly. On reflection it was probably a mixture of the two.
Certainly it would be wrong to suggest it was an error-free effort by the home side.
They turned over a lot more ball in the tackle situation than they would have liked, they conceded too many penalties at the ruck and maul and, occasionally, their option taking was astray.
Having said that though there is no doubt it was a major step in the right direction as regards their bid for third division honours.
Up front there was a lot to admire about the scrummaging effort, where they had Horowhenua-Kapiti on the back pedal on numerous occasions.
Newcomer Ashley Wells had a grand debut at prop and his cohorts in the front row, Rob Foreman and Dylan Higgison, could be well satisfied with their efforts as well.
In the lineouts the home side relied almost solely on Fijian lock Tomasi Kedrabuka for their ball, and he was one of the game's outstanding figures, competing just as strongly on opposition throws as on those of his own side. But it wasn't only in the lineouts where Kedrabuka made his presence felt. He was a punishing runner in broken play and also found time to make a number of effective tackles.
Competing with Kedrabuka for any player of the day award would have been lively Wairarapa-Bush flanker Daimon Neal. He had a massive workrate on both attack and defence and was so in the face of the opposition inside backs that they were often panicked into mistakes.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs relished the chance to strut their attacking skills and pierced holes in the Horowhenua-Kapiti defence almost at will. Second-five Nathan Couch was the starting point for many of their most potent attacks and there was an impressive combination of pace and flair from the likes of centre Simanu Simanu wings Jorji Tamani and Esava Teko and fullback Bart Viguurs.
Horowhenua-Kapiti would have been horribly disappointed by their effort. In flanker Craig Tansley and lock Sam Coleman they had a couple of hard working forwards, but while the pack generally made good headway on the pick and go they were outclassed in the scrums, and seldom got to the breakdowns in sufficient numbers to guarantee possession.
Wing Thomas Ati'IIoa was easily the most dangerous of the Horowhenua-Kapiti backs, making several strong runs, but generally they lacked structure and composure in their attacking play and were woeful on defence.
Simanu Simanu (2) Jorji Tamani (2), Esava Teko, Bart Viguurs and Patrick Rimene were the try scorers for Wairarapa-Bush and Rimene added three penalties and three conversions. Dion Nepia kicked a penalty for Horowhenua-Kapiti.
There was success too for Wairarapa-Bush B's in their curtain-raiser match against their Horowhenua-Kapiti counterparts. The home team won 13-7 in a game which was an evenly-contested as that scoreline would suggest. Both sides were willing to chance their arm on attack and while a number of turnovers occurred it was an entertaining encounter