More of same, orders Bush coach Rutene

More of the same is the call for Wairarapa-Bush leading into their Heartland championship rugby match with Horowhenua-Kapiti at Carterton tomorrow.

Head coach Mark Rutene was pleased with the commitment shown by his side in their somewhat unlucky 23-21 loss to Poverty Bay last weekend. He wants a repeat performance from them in a game that will leave the losers at the bottom of the competition table.

And if that happens to be Wairarapa-Bush, it will mean they will go into their final match of the 2011 season against high-fliers Wanganui at Wanganui on Saturday with the ugly prospect of coming away from their Heartland campaign winless.

Rutene is confident, however, that Wairarapa-Bush have the beating of Horowhenua-Kapiti with one important proviso: They need to start strongly and maintain the momentum all the way through.

"They [Horowhenua-Kapiti] will want this one every bit as much as we do. They won't be holding anything back either," he said. "We're both playing for pride, nobody wants to come last."

That Rutene and assistant coach Steve Thompson are starting with the same line-up as for the Poverty Bay match could hardly be termed a surprise, and is fair reward for their improved showing.

Not that everything went according to plan though, especially in the option-taking department where on three or four occasions ball was kicked when it should have been run, or vice-versa.

Invariably it is the inside backs who call the shots in that regard, and with Horowhenua-Kapiti having a propensity for the counter-attack, it will be vital the judgment calls made by halfback Matt O'Connor and first-five Zeb Aporo are tactically astute.

There were times in the Poverty Bay match too when Wairarapa-Bush attacks were slowed by forwards standing out among the backs and the protection of ball in tackle situations was not always as good as it needed to be. The big plus for the home team last Saturday was the solidness shown by midfield backs Sam Mitchell and Michael Vuicikau.

If they can provide time and space for wings Nick Olson and Jesse McGilvary and fullback Trent Vatselias to strut their stuff, the dearth of tries from Wairarapa-Bush this season could be given a decent boost.

Up front, Wairarapa-Bush will be relying on front-rowers Kurt Simmonds, Jake Tipene and Brendan Walker and locks Dan Griffin and Andrew Mclean to do the hard yards early on.

The Poverty Bay match also saw flanker James Goodger continue to make the sort of progress that suggests he will be a force to be reckoned with on the representative scene.

His work rate was enormous and fellow loosies Johan Van Vliet and Joss Tua-Davidson were little behind him.

Playing the main curtain-raiser, starting at 1pm, are the Wairarapa-Bush and Horowhenua-Kapiti B sides. This will be an RDO Cup fixture with the in-form Wairarapa-Bush expected to take the spoils.

An incentive to get along to tomorrow's action at Carterton is a promotion by Tui Breweries offering a year's supply of the sponsor's product as first prize.