Tui Cup reset cuts Puketoi

The Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union's council of clubs has decided on a new format for its Tui Cup premier division competition, and chairman Tim Nathan readily agrees it is not perfect.
"There will be some who don't like it but, at the end of the day, it was what all but one of the clubs voted for," Nathan said.
The Tui Cup is the main championship and follows on from the Kapene Cup, which goes to the leading team at the end of one complete round of matches.
Puketoi's late withdrawal from premier division play created headaches for the council of clubs.
It reduced the number of sides from 11 to 10 and because it happened midway through the Kapene Cup competition there was little option but to increase the number of byes until the end of that series from one to two.
And it also meant a drastic change to the points table, the rules stating that Puketoi had to be treated as if it did not exist. In other words, no points were awarded from their games.
The loss of Puketoi also forced the council to review the format of the Tui Cup. The original idea was to divide the then-11 teams into two pools, one of six teams and the other of five. All Kapene Cup points would be dropped but teams would be seeded into the pools on where they finished in that competition; for example, one pool consisting of teams placed, first, third, fifth etc and the other from those placed second, fourth, sixth etc.The top two teams in each pool would be the semifinalists.
With the 11 teams there would still have been one bye but when Puketoi withdrew that meant if the pool system was to remain with them out there would again be two byes - hardly an ideal situation, particularly for players aiming to get up to speed for the Heartland championship which has an earlier start time in 2011 because of the Rugby World Cup.
A proposal put before the council by one club was that all Kapene Cup matches staged to date should count for nothing and that from this weekend onwards another complete round of matches should be played with the leading side at the end of that winning the Kapene Cup and the top four teams moving on to the semifinals of the Tui Cup. As tidy as that proposal looked, it got only one vote - and not even from the club that put it forward.
Given favour instead was a system that would see the two pools remain with the seedings being done as was decided earlier. Same with how the semifinalists would be found. However, two byes would be avoided by having the bye teams play each other with points counting towards the Tui championship. On the face of it that would seem fair enough but where the probable controversy comes in is that the byes wouldn't be drawn on a random basis.
Rather they would be done in such a manner that the team seeded first in pool A would have the bye on the same day as their counterpart in pool B and so it would be down the pecking order.
Just how fair that is for ALL sides is sure to be the subject of heated debate in the weeks ahead but, when it all boils down, the clubs have only themselves to blame if it doesn't work out.
Meanwhile, unbeaten East Coast will be happy to be back in action tomorrow, having missed two weekends in a row because of being drawn to play against Puketoi on one of them and having the bye in the other.
That state of affairs led to them sliding to number two on the points table behind Pioneer but now it's the turn of the latter to have two successive weekends off and if East Coast can beat Masterton Red Star at Memorial Park tomorrow and Carterton at Whareama the following Saturday they will be back in front.
That East Coast should beat Masterton Red Star virtually goes without saying. Masterton Red Star are a gutsy lot but East Coast should be able to obtain enough quality ball for their pacy backs to run riot. A maximum five-pointer looks on the cards for them.
Perhaps the closest of the Kapene Cup games will come at Eketahuna under lights tonight when the home side takes on Gladstone. This should be a match of contrasting styles, Eketahuna aiming to keep the ball close to their forwards and Gladstone wanting to give their backs full rein. Dean Goodin will have the whistle with kick off at 7pm.
The other two matches tomorrow feature teams out of the reckoning for the Kapene Cup spoils but with four southern Wairarapa teams involved there won't be any shortage of fire in their bellies. The Martinborough v Greytown encounter at Martinborough should go right to the wire but even though Featherston have the home advantage they could find Carterton a handful.
Tomorrow's full draw is:
Premier division: Masterton Red Star v East Coast, Memorial Park at 2.30pm (S. O'Gorman; C. Jefferies and A. Payne); Martinborough v Greytown, Martinborough at 2.30pm (T. Roseingrave; P. Thompson and home team); Featherston v Carterton, Featherston at 2.30pm (G. Reisima; G. Hall and home team,); Marist and Pioneer a bye.
Senior reserves: Masterton Red Star v East Coast, Memorial Park at 1pm (C. Jefferies); Carterton v Marist, Carterton at 1pm (A. Stringer); Tuhirangi v Pioneer, Pirinoa at 1pm (S. Andrew); Martinborough a bye.
Manawatu colts: Eketahuna v Foxton, Eketahuna at 1pm (P. Weeks); WB BaaBaas v Freyberg, Memorial Park No2 at 1pm (A. Payne).
Secondary schools, Premier first XV: Wairarapa College v Palmerston North Boys High thirds, Wairarapa College at 12.30pm (G. Moorcock); Kuranui College v Hutt International seconds, Kuranui at 1pm (G. Hall). Manawatu under-15: Wairarapa Cololege v Dannevirke, Wairarapa College at 9.50am (T. Porter). Open grade: Rathkeale v Wairarapa College thirds, Rathkeale at 11.15am (K. Lochhead); Wairarapa College seconds v Makoura College, Wairarapa College thirds at 11.15am (T. Porter); Kuranui v Chanel, Kuranui at 11.15am (B. Whale). Junior: Wairarapa Cololege Gold v Rathkeale, Wairarapa College at 10am (A. Mortenson); Makoura v Wairarapa College Blue, Makoura at 10am (P. Thompson).