Meads Cup playoff beckons as King Country conquered

Lady Luck smiled on them as Hansells Wairarapa-Bush battled their way to a 16-8 win over King Country in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
A win which left them as the only unbeaten team in pool A and guaranteed of a place in the Meads Cup playoffs later in the season.
Two somewhat fortuitous tries in the early stages of the second half played a key role in the home team's success after first-five John Dodd had kicked two penalties to give them a flattering 6-0 lead at the break
The first of them came after a defensive clearing kick was charged down by a King Country player only for the ball to bounce into the hands of Wairarapa-Bush halfback Hamish McKenzie standing in what would normally have been an offside position some 15 to 20 metres up field.
McKenzie had the presence of mind to quickly launch a counter attack, the main thrust from which came from lock Tomasi Kedarabuka who bedazzled what was left of a scant King Country defence with a combination of pace and clever footwork. He was stopped just short of the line and who should be there to gratefully accept the final pass and crash over for the try but fellow middle rower Dan Griffin.
If King Country had good reason to rue that misfortune then things were to get even worse for them only minutes later. They launched a likely-looking attack down the left flank only to see Wairarapa-Bush winger Lance Stevenson seize onto a loose pass and sprint about half the length for another five pointer.
But while their two tries were clearly a case of good luck rather than good management Wairarapa-Bush did deserve their win, if only because they showed better appreciation of the simple arts of passing and catching than did their opposition in what was an error-ridden encounter.
King Country coach Paul Mitchell could be heard from some distance away and through concrete walls to boot giving his players a good old fashioned telling off at halftime, and it was easy to understand why.
The visitors had the edge in both territory and possession through that first 40 minutes but they constantly coughed up the ball, sometimes because of the assertiveness of what was an impressively robust Wairarapa-Bush defence but more often that not because of their own inadequacies. Simple errors like taking the eye off the ball were obvious time and time again.
Wairarapa-Bush too were far from blameless in that first half when it came to glitches in the handling department. Seldom did they manage to get any continuity into their game either because of ball being spilled just as attacking opportunities presented themselves.
Not helping the home team's cause as well were problems at scrum time with an unsteady platform there meaning that halfback Hamish McKenzie often had a couple of King Country loose forwards hanging around his neck as he strove to pick up the ball.
To Wairarapa Bush's credit, however, they did lift their act in the second spell as far as handling mistakes were concerned. There was still the odd loose pass or two but compared to King Country, who continued to bumble and fumble along in a fashion similar to the first half, they were practically angelic in that respect.
There was improvement too in the scrummaging effort from Wairarapa-Bush although one would have to say that King Country could, in boxing parlance, have claimed a points decision there at the game's end.
Not so in the lineouts though. Dan Griffin again had a mighty game for Wairarapa-Bush in that sphere and Tomasi Kedarabuka was only slightly less effective. The mobility of these two in the looser phases of the forward battle also claimed attention, especially Kedarabuka who made several storming runs during the course of the match. Throw in his high work rate on defence and the Fijian was clearly the home team's player of the day.
Hooker Joe Harwood and props Shane Temana and Brett Rudman all gained plusses for their diligence for the home side in the rucks and mauls, an area in which King Country were obviously well schooled. They had Wairarapa-Bush on the back pedal two or three times early in the game but things evened out as the match progressed.
There was a decent struggle too for dominance in the loose with Josh Mackey, Mike Spence and Steve Olds generally giving as good as they received there. They did have the odd worry though in their defensive work around the fringes of the scrums with King Country No.8 Ronnie Patea a wonderfully gifted player with ball in hand invariably running into open spaces.
Of the two backlines Wairarapa-Bush could certainly claim to have looked more dangerous from an attacking viewpoint with the "dropsies" epidemic virtually rendering the King Country outside backs unemployed.
There were moments of uncertainty from the inside combination of Hamish McKenzie and John Dodd in defensive situations for Wairarapa-Bush but their option taking was generally sound and second-five Tapanga Isaac was a strong runner and sure on the tackle. He is making a good fist of that role.
Centre Heemi Tupaea was solid in everything he did and while wingers Lance Stevenson and Lima Lauvi only had limited attacking opportunities they generally took good advantage of them. At fullback Simanu Simanu took a heavy knock early on which seemed to slow his movements but, class player that he is, he still made a positive impact on the game with his keen positional sense and ability to beat the first tackle when on the counter attack.
King Country did manage a consolation try through Eric Vaoga late in the match but they will have returned home frustrated over the fact that they were clearly their own worst enemies. No.8 Patea is a star in the making though and lock Lance Tibby and flanker Jamari Hona were a couple of others to shine as well.