Mid Canty outpace struggling Bush

Urgency was the key to Mid-Canterbury's decisive and deserved 30-17 win over Wairarapa-Bush in their Heartland championship rugby match at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.
The home team did have the better of the first quarter and actually got out to a handy 17-8 lead going into the last 10 minutes of the first half, but from then on it was Mid-Canterbury who called the tune, reducing the deficit to just 13-17 at the break and then scoring an unanswered 17 more points in the second half.
It wasn't that Mid-Canterbury appeared any stronger than Wairarapa-Bush on a man-to-man basis, it was simply that when the chips were down they were able to find an extra gear, a very different story to Wairarapa-Bush, whose efficiency levels dropped alarmingly once they got behind on the scoreboard.
All the pre-match talk about Wairarapa-Bush having the physicality up front to match Mid-Canterbury in both set piece and broken play became no more than that, just talk, with Mid-Canterbury clearly having the edge in all the important ball-winning departments.
Several times during the course of the match the Wairarapa-Bush scrum was on the back pedal, something seldom seen in previous games this season.
In the lineouts too Wairarapa-Bush struggled to win their own ball on a regular basis and, whereas they tended to arrive at the breakdowns in ones and twos, Mid-Canterbury were invariably there in numbers and consequently managed to either snaffle or spoil possession initially coming Wairarapa-Bush's way. Sure, some of their tactics didn't always please the referee and resulted in penalties against them, but they could rightfully claim those were risks worth taking in the bigger scheme of things.
It was surprising too to see the usually stout close quarter defence of the Wairarapa-Bush forwards around the fringes of the scrums and mauls being broken with almost monotonous regularity, especially in the second half, when Mid-Canterbury made a habit of keeping ball in hand. The rolling maul was a launching pad for many of their most potent attacks and they were also very adept at the "pick and go".
Early signs were that this could be a match in which the attacking qualities of the Wairarapa-Bush backs came to light with slick passing and hard, straight running, producing a superb try to fullback Nick Olson in the opening stanzas. But, like their forwards, the longer the game progressed the less effective they became.
In the second half, especially, the Mid-Canterbury rearguard were all too often able to put players into space through their Wairarapa-Bush counterparts being slow to react defensively and it was a no-contest when it came to the accuracy of the tactical kicking, Mid-Canterbury taking the honours there by the proverbial country mile.
Individually there were not too many Wairarapa-Bush players who came out of this encounter with their reputations enhanced.
Flanker Joss Tua-Davidson did, however, win his share of lineout ball and toiled away industriously enough to raise questions on the wisdom of his being subbed early in the second half, and there was no shortage of endeavour in the tighter stuff from locks Andrew McLean and Brandon Young.
Perhaps the most interest in the Wairarapa-Bush forward effort centred on Wellington loan player Mana Faraimo, making his debut for the union in the No8 jersey, and while he did star in a couple of punishing second-half runs his was a relatively quiet performance.
There was a new face too in the Wairarapa-Bush backline, with former national secondary schools rep Cyrus Baker being tried at centre. He had what could best be described as a mixed game.
Crichton (2), Perry and Richard Catherwood scored tries for Mid-Canterbury and David Maw kicked two penalties and two conversions. Olson and Baker scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush, with Jeremy Te Huia adding two conversions and a penalty.
Highlight of the curtain-raiser matches was the effort of a well-drilled Wairarapa-Bush under-20 side in beating Wellington under-19s 61-5, and the Wairarapa-Bush B team gave Wellington Maori development squad plenty to think about before losing 35-29.