Wairarapa-Bush have signed a former New Zealand age group and Manawatu Turbos representative for their 2009 Heartland championship rugby campaign.
Siaosi Anamani now plays his club rugby in Wellington for Norths, the beaten finalists in this year's Jubilee Cup competition, and is described by Wairarapa-Bush coach Kelvin Tantrum as a "very talented" outside back capable of slotting in at centre, wing or fullback.
"He's certainly quick enough to give real impetus to the attack," Tantrum said of Anamani, who has also played for Wellington B. "Everything points to him being just what we need."
Intentions are for Anamani to make his debut in the Wairarapa-Bush colours in the last of their non-championship fixtures against fellow Heartland contenders Horowhenua-Kapiti in Masterton this coming weekend.
And, all going well, he will be joined there by the other two "loan players" Wairarapa-Bush will have for their Heartland programme, halfback Nick Risdon and wing Junior Togia. Risdon was, in fact, a star performer when Wairarapa-Bush lost to Poverty Bay by 25-14 in another non-championship match in Gisborne on Saturday but Togia was unavailable to make the trip because of family commitments.
The inside back combination of Risdon and Byron Karaitiana pleased Tantrum with the astuteness of their option taking and they could not be blamed for Wairarapa-Bush struggling to penetrate what was a staunch Poverty Bay midfield defence.
They managed just the one try, to fullback Nick Olson, despite their forwards providing them with a steady supply of quality possession. The rest of the points came from the boot of Karaitiana who landed three penalty goals.
Tantrum was particularly pleased with the impact made by his pack in the crucial set piece departments of lineout and scrum. Promoted from the B squad at virtually at the eleventh hour, Cory Reid provided the ideal foil to the main "go to" man Tomasi Kedrabuka in the lineouts and the scrum was rock solid throughout most of the game.
"We put a lot of emphasis on improving our set piece play and I was rapt at the response we got in that regard," Tantrum said.
Impressing up front for Wairarapa-Bush too was the loose trio of Duncan Law, Joss Tua-Davidson and Jared Hawkins, whose speed and constructiveness at the breakdowns led directly to several turnovers.
Risdon and Karaitiana were clearly the pick of the Wairarapa-Bush rearguard but there was also some good touches from fullback Nick Olson, especially on the counter attack.
Tantrum is hopeful of Wairarapa-Bush being able to field a close to full strength side against Horowhenua-Kapiti although definitely missing will be their "origin player", prop Ben Pereira, whose debut was always going to be the opening Heartland game against West Coast, and loosie Nathan Rolls, who is recovering from rib injuries.
Currently 28 players have been listed in the Wairarapa-Bush Heartland squad but that number will be slightly reduced before the West Coast match. The present line-up includes veteran Marist utility back Nathan Couch who did play against Otago Country a fortnight back but is likely to be used more in a "mentoring" role for the championship games.
THE SQUAD IS.-
Forwards: Kurt Simmonds Jared Brock, Nick Beavon, Brett Rudman, Ben Pereira, Richard Puddy, Adam Marshall, Tomasi Kedrabuka, Andrew McLean, Brandon Young, Nathan Rolls, Duncan Law, Joe Feast, Joss Tua-Davidson, Jared Hawkins, Chris Senior.
Backs: Nick Risdon, Api Matenga, Byron Karaitiana, Nathan Couch, Sili Tugaga, Sam Mitchell, Tommy Harmon, Heemi Tupaea, Jordan Watene, Junior Togia, Nick Olson, Siaosi Anamani.
