Rutene hits out at players

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Mark Rutene admits the attitude of some of his players needs to improve as they head into their Heartland championship match with Poverty Bay at Carterton on Saturday.

With five losses in as many Heartland games, Wairarapa-Bush are at the bottom of the points table and Rutene said some hard talking was done before Tuesday night's training session as to what needed to happen.

"You can't hide the fact that some of the guys haven't been working hard enough on and off the field ... it's only some of them but it affects the performance of the whole team," Rutene said. "They have to pull their socks up, otherwise we can't expect to make any progress at all."

Rutene said for Wairarapa-Bush to keep their slim Lochore Cup play-off hopes alive, they had to beat Poverty Bay, Horowhenua-Kapiti and King Country in the last three of their qualifying round games, and that would only happen if they put in a full 80-minute performance each time.

"We can't have players switching on and switching off, they have to be prepared to guts it out all the way."

Rutene and assistant coach Steve Thompson will not name their starting line-up for the Poverty Bay match until after training tonight but one thing seems guaranteed, Eketahuna lock Dan Griffin will be there after being sidelined with a dislocated elbow since the home game with Mid-Canterbury on August 13.

Griffin, arguably the best lineout forward in the region, is now back to full fitness and, with his fellow Eketahuna lock, Brandon Young, missing the next two Heartland games through a prior commitment, he is the obvious choice to partner the ever-reliable Andrew McLean in the middle row.

Question marks still exist, however, over who of Brendan Walker, Kurt Simmonds and Wilba Davies should start at prop. Davies has spent most of the season to date on the subs bench but there is a growing feeling that his mobility in general play could be used to greater advantage by having him on the field from the word go.

It would be no surprise either if some tinkering was done to the loose forward department, something perhaps made even more likely by the shoulder injury suffered by Lee Ewe during the disappointing 33-13 loss to East Coast in Ruatoria last weekend.

The odds would seem to favour skipper Joss Tua-Davidson moving from blindside flank to No8, and James Goodger and Johan van Vliet starting on the flanks.

In the backs, the main talking point will surround the midfield combination where no fewer than five players - Tommy Harmon, Sam Mitchell, Jesse McGilvary, Heemi Tupaea and Michael Vuicikau - are in the reckoning.

The need to shore up the defence and enhance communication there might well see Mitchell and McGilvary, both from the East Coast club, paired together on this occasion.

They know each other's game well and are both solid on the tackle.