Slow start proves costly

TRY-SCORERS: Byron Karaitiana (with ball) and Richard Puddy both picked up doubles in the Meads Cup semi.

A spirited second half fightback wasn't enough to stop Wairarapa-Bush being ousted from the Heartland Championship, beaten 48-34 by North Otago in their Meads Cup semifinal match played in Oamaru on Saturday.

Trailing by a mammoth 31-12 at halftime Wairarapa-Bush showed plenty of character and resolve to 'win' the second spell 22-17 but as head coach Mark Rutene readily conceded they never really threatened to overhaul the home side.

"We can't say we ever put ourselves into a winning position, they (North Otago) simply played better than us and deserved their victory," Rutene said. "That first half killed us, we were always in catch-up mode after that."

In the end Wairarapa-Bush and North Otago scored six tries apiece - the most Wairarapa-Bush has managed in any one Heartland game this season - but when it came to goal-kicking there was only one team in it, North Otago's Ed Keohane converting all six of his team's tries and adding two penalties for good measure. In contrast the only points Wairarapa-Bush gained from the boot were two conversions kicked by Glen Walters.

Rutene was quick to emphasise, however, that while the goal-kicking stats clearly favoured North Otago, they were by no means the sole blame for his side's hefty defeat. Also counting against them for instance, was the ability of North Otago to make the most of turnover ball, especially in that first half.

"I think they got about three turnovers and scored tries from all of them," Rutene said. "They were very quick to capitalise, they moved the ball swiftly and stretched our defences, it was pretty impressive stuff."

The first half also saw the Wairarapa-Bush forwards struggle to produce a stable platform at scrum time and North Otago had a clear edge in physicality in the rucks and mauls. "They held a lot of our ball up because we were inclined to go in too high," Rutene said. "The second half was an improvement, the delivery of possession was better then."

The Wairarapa-Bush backs had only limited opportunities to display their attacking skills and there were times when their space was minimised not so much by the tightness of the opposition defence but through their own forwards cluttering up their space. Rutene did, however, have high praise for the tenacity shown by his players in the second half, particularly in view of the fact they were staring down the barrel of a decent thumping.

"We certainly didn't throw in the towel and we ran in some really good tries, the only problem being that about every time we scored they'd score next and the gap would stay about the same."

Hooker Richard Puddy and midfield back Byron Karaitiana both scored two tries for Wairarapa-Bush and they were also two of their best players, making big impacts on attack and defence. Loosies Johan Van Vliet and James Goodger also impressed with their high workrates and Nick Olson was a dangerous runner when he came off the reserves bench to play at fullback.

Sale Pi'i, Matt Duff, J'ndre Liebenberg, Rob Smith, Ratu Vaituinaruku and Simeli Knoiferedi scored tries for North Otago and Keohane kicked six conversions and two penalties. Puddy (2), Karaitiana (2), Van Vliet and Ben Pereira were the Wairarapa-Bush try scorers and Walters kicked two conversions.

The other Meads Cup semifinal was a thriller with top seeds Mid-Canterbury scraping home 28-25 over West Coast, thanks to a try in injury time.

The Lochore Cup semis saw Buller upset Wanganui 40-30 and South Canterbury beat Thames Valley 14-8.