Two questions hold the key to victory in tomorrow's grand final of the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union's premier division competition at Memorial Park, Masterton.
Can the Eketahuna forwards quell the fire and intensity of their Gladstone counterparts and can Gladstone replicate the same superb defensive effort which enabled them to oust defending champions Greytown last weekend?
What makes the first of those questions so important is that any rugby match, let alone grand finals, is invariably won by the side which does best up front, particularly in the crucial ball-winning areas of scrum, lineout and maul.
With experienced campaigners like Andrew McLean, Richard Puddy, Lance Graves and John Stevenson at the helm, Gladstone will justifiably fancy their chances of gaining at least a semblance of superiority in those areas.
The challenge then for the Eketahuna forwards will be to meet fire with fire, and to that extent a lot of responsibility will fall on the broad shoulders of old hands like Brandan Young, Brendan Walker and Dan Griffin and hard-working loosie Hamish Walker.