Up front it was the Wairarapa-Bush pack who clearly had the better of the battle for possession. There was a pleasing stability about their scrummaging and while their lineout work was not always as accurate as they would have liked they still managed to take down the huge percentage of their own ball, and spoil some of their opposition's.
The fitness of some of the bigger men in the Wairarapa-Bush pack has been questioned from time to time this season but it was not an issue on Saturday.
The clear edge they had in mobility meant they invariably got to the breakdowns in greater numbers than did Horowhenua-Kapiti and the speed with which they freed up ball gave their backs ample time to assess the attacking options available to them.
Impressive, too, was the physicality of the Wairarapa-Bush work in the mauls with possession often being obtained through the sheer intensity of their effort.
The loose trio of Joss Tua-Davidson at No8 and James Goodger and Johan Van Vliet on the flanks gave outstanding service to the home team, Tua-Davidson with his strong running in broken play and equally strong defence, Goodger with his high workrate on attack and defence as well as his lineout skills and Van Vliet with his constant harassing of the opposing inside backs and tenacity on the tackle. It would have have been a battle royal among the three for any player of the match award.
Locks Andrew McLean and Dan Griffin were their usual good value at lineout time and were typically industrious about the paddock. Hooker Jake Tipene made the most of every opportunity to demonstrate his power with ball in hand. Seldom did he fail to make useful metres and it usually took at least a couple of tacklers to halt his progress.
Throw in the diligence of the three props used - Kurt Simmonds, Brendan Walker and Wilba Davies - in the tighter stuff and this was a forward effort which had a lot to commend it.
The Wairarapa-Bush backs had shown significant improvement in their previous match with Poverty Bay and it would be fair to rate Saturday's performance as another step up, although their rivals had a poor defensive structure.
The decision-making of the starting inside combination of halfback Matt O'Connor and first-five Zeb Aporo was always sound with O'Connor also getting through some useful work in cover defence.
In midfield Sam Mitchell and Michael Vuicikau often provided the initial thrust to the attacking play with their hard, straight running and they showed the same aggressive intent on defence. Mitchell scored the last two tries of the match, a good reward for being in the right place at the right time.
For sheer brilliance on attack, however, it was Wairarapa-Bush wing Nick Olson who would clearly have won any prize on offer. He made several scintillating runs through the course of the match, invariably leaving three or four would-be tacklers in his wake.
On the other wing Jesse McGilvary didn't have quite the same impact but usually managed to get himself over the advantage line whenever the ball came his way and fullback Trent Vatselias was quick to seize any counter-attacking opportunity to display his nifty footwork.
Horowhenua-Kapiti went in fits and starts. There were periods when their forwards made handy ground on the "pick and go", none more than big prop Rahiri Connor-Johnson who was a hard man to stop when in full flight.
No8 Tyson Maki was also a force to be reckoned with on the charge and flanker Joel Winterburn and lock Ryan Shelford were prominent at times. The pick of a backline which struggled to get organised were halfback Robbie Hanson and first-five Tiakina Manga.
Other Heartland results: North Otago 17, South Canterbury 16; East Coast 30, Poverty Bay 29; Wanganui 69, West Coast 12; Mid-Canterbury 30, Buller 27; Thames Valley 26, King Country 14.
Competition points: North Otago 31, Wanganui 30, Mid-Canterbury 25, Buller 22, East Coast 22, Thames Valley 21, South Canterbury 17, Poverty Bay 14, West Coast 12, Wairarapa-Bush 8, King Country 5, Horowhenua-Kapiti 5.
Wairarapa-Bush finish their 2011 Heartland campaign with a match against Wanganui at Wanganui next weekend.
