Van Vliet set to miss vital game

CASUALTY: Wairarapa-Bush captain Johan Van Vliet is assisted from the field after spraining his ankle in the East Coast match by teammates Zeb Aporo (left) and Clark Butcher.

Wairarapa-Bush seem certain to be without skipper Johan Van Vliet for the last of their Heartland championship rugby preliminary round games with Thames Valley at Paeroa on Saturday.

Van Vliet limped from the field early in the second half during his team's 41-31 win over East Coast at the weekend. Head coach Mark Rutene reported yesterday that he had a "high level ankle sprain" and therefore was "very doubtful" to be available for the Thames Valley clash.

"Obviously, we are all hoping for big improvement over the next couple of days, but right now I'd think Paeroa will be out," Rutene said when asked to assess Van Vliet's chances of participating in a match, which will decide whether Wairarapa-Bush will host a Meads Cup semifinal the following weekend.

It will be interesting to see who Rutene and assistant coach Paddy Gough opt to use as Van Vliet's replacement as openside flanker in their starting line-up should he be ruled out.

Some thought could have been given to naming Ben Pereira there, after the specialist hooker did a decent job in the position when coming off the bench against East Coast. But he was forced from the field with suspected concussion after being the victim of a dangerous tackle late in that game, and will very probably be out of contention for the Paeroa trip as a consequence.

It would not be a complete surprise if Jamie Hunt, another of the hookers in the Wairarapa-Bush squad, was in the No7 jersey. He certainly has the pace and aggressive attitude to fit the bill, but Rutene and Gough may be more inclined to stick with the tried and true and start with the always reliable Johnie McFadzean.

McFadzean took over the captaincy when Van Vliet left the fray in the East Coast game and made a good fist of the leadership role.

Pereira was one of two Wairarapa-Bush players to retire from the East Coast match with suspected concussion and the other, wing Nathan Hunt, is also likely to be rested for the Thames Valley encounter. The obvious replacement for Hunt is Paul Tikomainavalu, who was one of the few Wairarapa-Bush players to come out of the East Coast game with their reputation unscathed.

He added obvious sting to the attack when he came off the bench, making several storming runs, and always looking for work. Tikomainavalu was in the reserves only because of rolling an ankle in the previous game against Buller and the dash he showed indicated that injury was no longer a problem.

Coach Rutene had mixed feelings over his team's effort against East Coast, praising the character and resolve they showed to come back after trailing 21-3 inside the first 15 minutes, but disappointed at the number of first tackles missed, the lack of accuracy in their lineout play, and basic handling and passing errors.

"I guess we gave the spectators their money's worth because of the way we fought back and the number of tries we scored [six], but it was a long way from perfect," Rutene said.

Winning and scoring four or more tries in the process meant Wairarapa-Bush picked up the maximum five points to stay at the top of the Heartland table with Mid-Canterbury. They both have 28, followed by North Otago 24, West Coast 23, Buller 20, Wanganui 19, South Canterbury 18, King Country 14, Thames Valley 13, East Coast 10, Horowhenua-Kapiti 9 and Poverty Bay 2.

To guarantee themselves a Meads Cup semifinal in Masterton, Wairarapa-Bush will need to secure at least one point against Thames Valley but they will be clearly be aiming for the maximum five again, as that could possibly see them hosting the final as well.

The full Heartland draw for October 12 is (home teams first):

Thames Valley v Wairarapa-Bush, Buller v Mid-Canterbury, North Otago v Horowhenua-Kapiti, Wanganui v West Coast, East Coast v South Canterbury, King Country v Poverty Bay.