Pools drawn for Bush rugby

The make-up of the two pools for the preliminary round of the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union's main premier division championship makes interesting reading.
Nobody can argue that the composition was not done fairly as it was based simply on finishing order in the Kapene Cup competition, which ended last Saturday with an East Coast squad coached by former All Black Mark Donaldson the clear-cut winners.
Drawn in pool A were the teams which finished first, third, fifth, seventh and ninth, with pool B comprising of placegetters second, fourth, sixth, eighth and 10th.
The top two sides in each pool after July 2 will go through to the semifinals the following weekend, and from what has been seen so far, the battle for those spots seems likely to be more intense in pool A.
Four of the sides - East Coast, Pioneer, Martinborough and Marist - have already shown form good enough to suggest they are serious contenders for the title. The missing link is Greytown, which would need to improve enormously to earn that rating.
In pool B, Masterton Red Star and Featherston look like also-rans, which leaves Gladstone, Eketahuna and defending champions Carterton fighting it out for the semifinals berths.
The fact they are top seeds in pool B could spell bad news for Gladstone because, under the new format, the teams who would normally have had the byes in each pool will play, and points achieved there will count towards the championship.
In their wisdom, the WBRFU's council of clubs have decided that rather than have a random draw to see who has the bye on any given day it has been done by way of Kapene Cup seedings, meaning the top seeds in each of the pools will have the bye on the same day as will the second seeds and so on down the line.
All premier division matches this Saturday will be played at Memorial Park in Masterton as a feature of the WBRFU's 125th birthday celebrations.
If the form book plays true, there will be three key match-ups as far as the semifinal battles are concerned - Gladstone v Eketahuna, East Coast v Pioneer and Marist v Martinborough.
The draw for premier division, senior reserve top four and senior reserve bottom five competition matches over the next five weeks is:
PREMIER DIVISION
June 4: Carterton v Masterton Red Star at Memorial Park 2, Gladstone v Eketahuna at Memorial Park 1, Greytown v Featherston at Memorial Park No 3, East Coast v Pioneer at Memorial Park 1, Marist v Martinborough at Memorial Park 2.
June 11: Carterton v Featherston at Carterton, Gladstone v Masterton Red Star at Gladstone, Greytown v Marist at Greytown, Martinborough v East Coast at Martinborough, Pioneer v Eketahuna at Park Sportsground.
June 18: East Coast v Gladstone at Whareama, Eketahuna v Carterton at Eketahuna, Featherston v Masterton Red Star at Featherston, Greytown v Martinborough at Greytown, Marist v Pioneer at Memorial Park.
June 25: Eketahuna v Featherston at Eketahuna, Gladstone v Carterton at Gladstone, Marist v East Coast at Memorial Park 1, Masterton Red Star v Martinborough at Memorial Park 2, Pioneer v Greytown at Park Sportsground.
July 2: Carterton v Marist at Carterton, East Coast v Greytown at Whareama, Featherston v Gladstone at Featherston, Martinborough v Pioneer at Martinborough, Masterton Red Star v Eketahuna at Memorial Park.
SENIOR RESERVE TOP FOUR
June 4: No play.
June 11: Martinborough v Tuhirangi at Martinborough, Pioneer v Masterton Red Star at Park Sportsground.
June 18: Martinborough v Masterton Red Star at Martinborough, Pioneer v Tuhirangi at Park Sportsground.
June 25: Martinborough v Pioneer at Martinborough, Tuhirangi v Masterton Red Star at Tuhirangi.
July 2: Masterton Red Star v Martinborough at Memorial Park, Pioneer v Tuhirangi at Park Sportsground.
July 9: Masterton Red Star v Pioneer at Memorial Park, Tuhirangi v Martinborough at Tuhirangi.
SENIOR RESERVE BOTTOM FIVE
June 4: No play.
June 11: Carterton v Marist at Carterton, East Coast v Gladstone at Whareama, Eketahuna bye.
June 18: East Coast v Carterton at Whareama, Marist v Eketahuna at Memorial Park 2, Gladstone bye.
June 25: East Coast v Eketahuna at Whareama, Gladstone v Carterton at Gladstone, Marist bye.
July 2: Eketahuna v Gladstone at Eketahuna, Marist v East Coast at Memorial Park, Carterton bye.
July 9: No draw listed.