No repeats of horror start, says Russell

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Peter Russell is mindful of what happened two seasons ago as he prepares his team for their opening NPC third division match of the 2006 season, against Buller at Buller on Saturday.
While the form book would suggest that anything other than a comfortable Wairarapa-Bush victory would be a huge surprise Russell still has grim memories of the season opener in 2003.
Then Wairarapa-Bush started with a match against lowly West Coast at Greymouth and returned home with their tails fairly and squarely between their legs.
"We only have to go back that far to see what can occur when you get too confident about the result of any game", he said.
"We have to be prepared for a hard, tough battle at Buller, and hopefully we are."
Making those sentiments seem even more realistic is the fact that Buller beat a relatively strong Marlborough XV in the last of their warm-up games and that their resources have apparently been boosted by the arrival of five or six "imports" who have played all, or most, of their club rugby in the Christchurch area.
And, of course, there is the fact they are playing at home and that alone can be worth a few points to any side.
Russell was delighted with the success of a training camp held for the Wairarapa-Bush squad at the Rugby Institute in Palmerston North over the weekend.
One of the more telling messages given the players there was the need for them to take responsibility for their own actions, both on and off the playing field,.
"The more the players are prepared to think for themselves the better it is for the team as a whole", Russell said.
"And it's important the decisions they make are made with the interests of the team at heart, that the team aspect is first and foremost in everybody's minds."
Considerable work was done at the camp on both attacking and defensive play and again the emphasis was on all players understanding the structure.
"We looked at a lot of variables, especially on defence, and how best they could be dealt with", Russell said.
"Good communication is vital and we kept stressing that as well".
Russell won't name his actual team for the Buller match until tomorrow morning but with no injuries to cope the starting XV pretty much selects itself.
Dutch international Bart Viguurs will be at fullback with Esava Teko and Jorgi
Tamani likely to be on the wings and Simanu Simanu at centre. In the five-eighths will be Nathan Couch and Paddy Rimene and James Bruce is the logical choice at halfback.
Skipper Mike Robinson will almost certainly join Daimon Neal and Sylvanus Iro in the loose forward trio, promising youngster Corey Reid will have Fijian Tomasi
Kedarabuka as his locking partner and the front row seems sure to comprise of props Logan Ili and Dylan Higgison and hooker Rob Foreman.