Strong defence paves way for win

A strong defensive effort paved the way for Wairarapa-Bush's 24-17 win over Buller in their Heartland rugby championship Meads Cup playoff match at Westport on Saturday.
Coach Graham Cheetham said Buller had thrown everything but the proverbial kitchen sink at his side inside the last 10 minutes as they desperately strove for the converted try which would even things up.
"We had to make a heck of a lot of tackles then and we never flinched, the defence was outstanding," he said.
It was not the only time during the course of the match where the character and resolve of the Wairarapa-Bush side was put to the test.
They were down to 14 players for 10 minutes after a player was sin-binned and again stood up remarkably well to the pressure Buller applied on them over that period.
"There too the acid was on the defence and everybody did their bit to keep our line intact, "Cheetham said.
The Wairarapa-Bush coach was also pleased with the finishing of his team in attacking situations.
They ran in three tries and, with an ounce or two of luck, might have had another couple as well.
"In tight games like this you have to capitalise on the other team's mistakes and we did that," Cheetham said. "When the tries were there to be scored we generally scored them and that's what it is all about."
Cheetham said Wairarapa-Bush broke about even in the forward exchanges although Buller probably had the edge in the scrums in the first half.
"We were a bit ragged at times there early on but got better as the game progressed," he said.
No.8 and captain Mike Spence had a big game for Wairarapa-Bush, often taking the ball up on attack and also having a high workrate on defence. Hooker Joe Harwood was always to the fore in the tighter phases of the game and flanker Jared Hawkins was rewarded for a lively game with a good try.
Halfback Hamish McKenzie and midfielder Jon Guillard shone in a Wairarapa-Bush backline which was solid on both attack and defence. Pleasing too was the fact that fullback Simanu Simanu got through the game without a recurrence of the groin strain which had kept him out of the previous match.
Jared Hawkins, Heemi Tupaea and Mike Spence scored tries for Wairarapa-Bush and John Dodd kicked three conversions and a penalty.
Nathan Thompson scored a try and kicked a dropped goal for Buller and Stu Neighbours kicked three penalty goals. Neighbours also missed at least three other penalty attempts from close range.
Wairarapa-Bush's win takes them to 19 points on the competition table, second equal with Mid Canterbury, and 9 points behind runaway leaders North Otago, who Wairarapa-Bush play at home next weekend. A win there would guarantee Wairarapa-Bush a spot in the semi-finals but a loss would very probably see them needing a win against Wanganui in the last round of playoff games to claim a semi-final berth.
The Wairarapa-Bush senior B rugby team were to play Poverty Bay at Memorial Park on Saturday but the game was called off after Poverty Bay advised they had a shortage of players able to make the trip.
This meant the only Memorial Park action was the Hurricane colts competition match between Wairarapa-Bush and Horowhenua-Kapiti, won by Horowhenua-Kapiti 13-10.
It was a game which produced an entertaining brand of rugby with the bigger Horowhenua-Kapiti side- most of their backs seemed bigger than the Wairarapa-Bush forwards- having a clear edge in both territory and possession.
They also benefited at times from some rather tentative Wairarapa-Bush defence, especially in broken play situations.
Wairarapa-Bush did, however, show any amount of flair and inventiveness on attack with backs and forwards often combining in movements which swept half the length of the field.
Skipper Kurt Simmonds and Mike Wilson were standout players in the Wairarapa-Bush pack with fullback Nick Olson a dangerous runner in the backs. Olson scored a try for Wairarapa-Bush and Logan Uys kicked one penalty and one conversion.
The Wairarapa-Bush under-18 team sealed victory in the B division of their Hurricanes competition with a commanding 47-15 win over Wanganui at the Colombo road grounds.
Wairarapa-Bush went into the match just one point ahead of Wanganui on the competition table but made no race of this encounter, scoring six tries in what was a thoroughly convincing performance.
The most impressive feature of the Wairarapa-Bush effort was the mobility of their forwards who were often on hand to support their backs in attacking play.
Hawke's Bay won the A division of the competition.