Experienced Wairarapa-Bush inside back Patrick Rimene says his side are seeking redemption in their NPC third division semi-final rugby match with Buller at Memorial Park, Masterton on Saturday.
Rimene and his team-mates were "absolutely gutted" after losing 29-24 to Buller in the very first of the preliminary round matches and were delighted to be given the chance to reverse that result this coming weekend.
"The feeling amongst the players was that we wanted to play Buller in the semis just so we had a chance to put the record straight against them," Rimene said. "They didn't beat us, we beat ourselves, and it's a result that still hurts."
Reports of that earlier game against Buller had Wairarapa-Bush 'bombing" at least five tries and Rimene said the number of five pointers which went begging that day could have been even greater than that.
"It was one of those games where we kept making mistakes just as a try was on??everybody in the team was really frustrated about it," Rimene said.
As to Buller's strengths and weaknesses Rimene recalls them as being quite feisty up front and having a couple of dangerous runners in the backs but he is confident that if Wairarapa-Bush play to their potential then a decent-sized win is on the cards.
"We've improved a lot since that first game ? all over the park," he said.
But having said, Rimene concedes that apart from the match in which they racked up 50 points against Horowhenua-Kapiti Wairarapa-Bush have still to play to their true potential.
"We've been running a bit hot and cold in our games and the players know that," he said. "We've talked about what will happen when we click for the full 80 minutes and that's the aim on Saturday. We want to start strongly and keep it going all the way.
For Rimene points have been coming thick and fast in 2005. He has landed 24 conversions1, eight penalties and scored two tries for a total of 82 points, well ahead of the previous points scoring record for Wairarapa-Bush in third division play of 66 which he set in 2003.
Hard work is the Rimene motto when it comes to goal kicking.
Each practise night he is out on the field about one hour before anyone else honing his goal kicking technique and he likes to do the same for about 20 minutes on match days as well.
Rimene says the time spent on practising goal kicking is not so much to improve his accuracy but to ensure his timing is spot on. "Good timing is the basis of accurate goal kicking."
Payback time!
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