Sensible solution to cup crisis

Common sense has prevailed in the debate over which of East Coast and Masterton Red Star should hold the Chris Kapene Memorial Cup for being the leading team after one complete round of matches in the Wairarapa-Bush premier division rugby competition.
They will share the trophy after the 12 Wairarapa-Bush clubs and the Referees Association verbally voted on the matter yesterday.
That always seemed the most logical conclusion after it was discovered there were no rules to cover the situation which saw East Coast and Masterton Red Star level pegging on 35 points.
But, even so, it was not unanimous with eight of the votes going that way and the other five favouring one of two other options, the result of the clash between the two teams concerned , which would have favoured Masterton Red Star, or points differential, which would have favoured East Coast.
For both East Coast and Masterton Red Star it is the first time they have won the Kapene Cup and the honour is particularly notable for Masterton Red Star as they did not even enter the premier division grade last season because of a shortage of players.
Coach Corie Karaitiana admitted after his team had drawn even with East Coast after beating Puketoi 37-9 at Pongaroa on Saturday that the Kapene Cup had not been on their hit-list at the start of this season.
"We saw the first round as being more of a rebuilding period for us, if anybody had said then we would only drop one game I would probably have laughed at them," he said. "It's amazing what confidence can do, you get a couple of wins early on and away you go."
In East Coast's case their latest success follows their first-ever winning of the premier division main championship in 2008 but ,like Karaitiana, their coach John Pereira is quick to emphasise they can take nothing for granted in this season's second round, at the end of which the top four sides will go forward to the semi-finals. "There's not a lot between any of the teams and noone can afford to be complacent," he said.
Meanwhile, Gladstone prop Kurt Simmonds , who made such an impressive debut for Wairarapa-Bush at Heartland championship level last season, has emerged as a serious contender for the captaincy role in 2009.
Simmonds has been named by coach Kelvin Tantrum to lead what is being labelled a Wairarapa XV against a Bush XV at Memorial Park, Masterton on the Monday of Queen's Birthday weekend
Neither last season's. captain Joe Harwood or his deputy Mike Spence are now playing their rugby in the Wairarapa-Bush region.
Interesting newcomers in the Wairarapa XV are Martinborough hooker Adam Marshall , prop Blair Hemming,utility forwards Andrew Compain and Mike Wakefield and utility back Jono Hurley, all of Carterton, Gladstone first-five Jason Kjestrup and Martinborough winger Rob Atkinson ..
Bush XV coach Graeme Cheetham also named his squad yesterday and expressed confidence in their ability to give their opposition plenty to think about.
"We'll be going out there with the idea of pulling off a win, and I think its possible," he said.
Twelve of the 26 players named by Cheetham play for Bush in the Manawatu premier club grade and he anticipates loose forward Josh Tua-Davidson ,lock Brendan Young, wing Greg Harding and fullback Chris Creek all making their presence felt in a big way.
Another player to watch in the Bush XV could be Fijian Rupeni Temani, a recent acquisition for Eketahuna. He is a brother of former Wairarapa-Bush wing Jorji Tamani and his versatility is such he could play either in the three-quarters or the loose forwards.