Too cold, too many reserves

It was not altogether surprising that Wairarapa-Bush should concede a 19-0 halftime lead when beaten 40-26 by a Hawke's Bay XV in their representative rugby match played at Memorial Park, Masterton yesterday.
Wairarapa-Bush had the bitterly cold wind at their backs in the first spell and with their forwards attaining a regular supply of quality possession they spent the greater part of that half deep in opposition territory.
But while three tries, two of them converted, was fair reward for their efforts there was always the thought that a 19-point advantage might not be enough against a Bay side which had no fewer than 13 players on the reserve bench and brought most of them on at the beginning of the second half.
And so it proved with an obviously stronger and more skilled Hawke's Bay line-up using the elements well to keep Wairarapa-Bush on hard defence and within 20 minutes of that half they had evened the scores at 19-19 .
From there it was just a case of how much they were going to win by and in the end they scored the neat 40 points in that many minutes.
To which the only reply from Wairarapa-Bush was a converted try right on the tick of fulltime.
The composition of the Wairarapa-Bush side was probably a far cry from what we can expect when their NPC first division campaign kicks off in August.
For instance only halfback Hamish McKenzie and first-five Patrick Rimene of the seven backs used in the starting XV could be considered anything like first stringers at this stage and of the eight forwards who initially took the field just loosies Sylvanus Iro and Sam Henderson and lock Tomasi Kedarabuka would be in that category.
There was though a lot to like about the forward effort in the first half yesterday with nothing impressing more than the fire and unity displayed in the rucks and mauls, an area where they often had the Hawkes Bay eight on the back pedal
There was pleasing stability too in a scrum anchored by hard-working front rowers Bert Buckle, Ross Batty and Brent Rudman while Tomasi Kedarabuka was a star act in the lineouts and a grand supporter of flankers Sylvanus Iro and Sam Henderson in the loose.
In McKenzie and Rimene Wairarapa-Bush had an inside back combination which generally showed good judgment in their option taking and wing Tom Harmon was all hustle and bustle on attack, invariably beating a tackle or two even when crowded for space.
It was Harmon who scored the most spectacular of the three Wairarapa-Bush first half tries, scooting 35m down the flank after being presented with the overlap.
The other two try scorers were Gladstone duo Mike Shaw and Duncan Rutherford, who were paired in midfield for the first time at this level and performed handily enough, whileRimene landed a couple of conversions.
The second half was very much the opposite of the first for Wairarapa-Bush in terms of both territory and possession.
Their forwards struggled to get any semblance of quality ball and when they did their backs were unable to make any headway against a more assertive Bay defence.
Not helping the Wairarapa-Bush cause either was a tendency to hang off tackles, particularly around the fringes of the rucks and mauls, and the Bay was quick to capitalise on their tentativeness in that area.
Replacement halfback Bradshaw scored three of the Hawke's Bay six tries with other reserves in Lola (2) and Stent also touching down. Yet another reserve in Taputoru kicked five conversions.
In contrast all Wairarapa-Bush had to show for their second half efforts was a late try to Rutherford, converted by Rimene, but by then it was very much a case of too little too late. Like Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa-Bush also gave a number of bench players match time in the second half but none of them did enough to enhance their reputations.
In fact, the only players in that spell to make any real impact on either attack or defence were two of the stars of the first half performance, Kedarabuka and Harmon.
Kedarabuka still managed to take down his share of lineout ball and got through a power of defensive work for a lock forward while Harmon continued to make the most of any chance to run the ball at the opposition, and also impressed with his diligence on cover defence.,