Measor finally gets clearance to play

Wellington "import" James Measor has finally received his clearance to play for Wairarapa-Bush in their 2008 Heartland championship rugby campaign but he will be rested from the last of their lead-up games against Wellington B at Memorial Park on Saturday.
Lock Measor was stretchered off the field with a neck injury whilst playing Upper Hutt in a recent club match and while he has now been passed fully fit medical advice is he should rest another week before returning to the active scene.
Which means in effect he will make his debut appearance for Wairarapa-Bush in their opening Heartland match against West Coast in Masterton on August 23.
Not surprisingly then there are no personnel changes in the Wairarapa-Bush pack for Saturday's game from that which initially took the field against Poverty Bay last weekend.
Coach Kelvin Tantrum was "pretty pleased" with the overall effort of his pack in that game, especially in the set pieces of lineout and scrum where they held their own against a very efficient Poverty Bay unit.
At the same time, however, Tantrum is mindful that a Wellington B side coached by former Wairarapa-Bush rep Richard Watt will provide an even sterner test up front.
This will be their final dress rehearsal for national B competition matches against Auckland, Counties-Manukau, Waikato, Taranaki, Manawatu, Southland and Bay of Plenty and Watt a hard-nosed customer himself on the playing field-is sure to have them breathing fire.
"Physically it's probably going top be a bigger challenge for us than most, if not all, of the Heartland games," Tantrum said. "Retention of possession will be crucial for us, turn over ball on a regular basis against teams like this and you are in big trouble."
The make-up of the Wairarapa-Bush backline is interesting, especially the relegation of Charlie Walker-Blair to the reserves now that the second Wellington "import" in the squad, Junior Togia, is available to play.
Togia was always likely to be included on the wing, the position in which he made such a positive impact for Wairarapa-Bush when he first played for them two seasons ago, and a good case could have been made for moving Walker-Blair from there to centre, where he played so well for Carterton at club level.
A powerful runner with the knack of breaking tackles, centre is a role which actually seems to suit Walker-Blair's talents best but he did have a few unfortunate handling lapses in the Poverty Bay game and that could be a reason for Jordan Watene being preferred ahead of him at centre for Saturday's fixture.
His greater experience has seen Patrick Rimene edge out Dean Grant for the first-five berth but the promising Grant has been retained in the starting XV, this time at fullback.
He played most of the second half there against Poverty Bay and while he somewhat over-did the chip kick on the counter attack no one could complain at his positional play or the sureness of his tackling.
The loss of Mike Hollis for personal reasons and Justin Lett through injury means Carterton youngster Callum Buchanan will understudy James Bruce at halfback, not only for this game but for the Heartland campaign as well.
Another welcome acquisition to the reserves is utility forward Joe Feast, who was so outstanding for East Coast at both flanker and lock during their winning off the senior first division club title this season. Feast is the only East Coast player in the present Wairarapa-Bush squad but fullback cum winger Nick Olson will join him when his hand injury heals.
Hopes are he could be available for the West Coast match.
THE FULL WAIRARAPA-BUSH SQUAD FOR THIS SATURDAY IS:
Dean Grant; Lance Stevenson, Jordan Watene, Nathan Couch, Junior Togia; Patrick Rimene; James Bruce; Mike Spence; Jared Hawkins, Tomasi Kedrabuka, Jared Bambry, Nathan Rolls; Dylan Higgison, Joe Harwood, Brett Rudman. Reserves: Callum Buchanan, Mike Shaw, Charlie Walker-Blair, Richard Puddy, Kurt Simmonds, Joe Feast, Mike Wilson.
Meanwhile. Wairarapa College first XV are gearing up for their Manawatu secondary schoolboys competition semi-final match with Wanganui Collegiate at Wairarapa College on Saturday, kick off at 12.30pm.
They have also qualified for the Hurricanes Co-ed Top Four tourney to be played in Palmerston North on August 28. They will meet the winner of the Wanganui-Taranaki section of that event.