Visitors punish home side

The final scoreline said it all when Buller beat Wairarapa-Bush 29-11 in their Heartland championship rugby fixture at Memorial Park, Masterton, on Saturday.

The 18-point winning margin was a fair indication of the merits of the two teams in a game in which Wairarapa-Bush matched the southerners for sheer physical endeavour but came a distant second on the score of execution.

Whereas Buller managed to keep their unforced errors to a minimum and impressed greatly with the speed of their passing, the sureness of their handling, the closeness of their support play and, most of all, their ability to find the open spaces with their tactical kicking, Wairarapa-Bush had nothing like the same precision about their performance.

The home team had the "wood" on Buller in the scrums, generally took down their own lineout ball and were vigorous and aggressive in both their pursuit of loose ball and their close quarter defence.

But they suffered badly from passes being spilled just as attacking forays started to gain momentum, first up tackles being missed whenever Buller moved the ball wide and both tactical and clearing kicks just about always going to hand rather than land, this being a huge minus against opposition who were quick and elusive on the counter attack.

Wairarapa-Bush did put first points on the board when Tipene Haira, a late replacement at first-five for an ailing Trent Vatselias (who did join the action before halftime) kicked a penalty goal but by halftime Buller had worked out to a 12-3 advantage, thanks to tries by impressive centre Pene Nabainivalu and wing Tema Faifua and a conversion by Phil Gibson.

Nabainivalu's try was a fine individual effort marked by a mix of speed and strength but Faifua's should never have happened. He received the ball close to the sideline with three cover defenders practically on top of him and at least 20m left to cover. That he wasn't bundled into touch was more a case of weak tackling than anything else.

The second half began promisingly enough for Wairarapa-Bush when they reduced the margin to within a converted try through a Vatselias penalty but not long afterwards fullback Matt Bonisch raced in for Buller's third try and Gibson's conversion gave them a 19-6 lead.

Then came the best moment of the game for Wairarapa-Bush. Halfback Inia Katia, who had been on the field for only a few minutes, darted and dummied his way past a couple of defenders and sent ever-present flanker James Goodger over for the five-pointer. Buller 19, Wairarapa-Bush 11.

Back came Buller.

A counterattack was launched from deep inside their own territory after yet another poor kick by Wairarapa-Bush and it ended 80m upfield with Nabainivalu scoring his second try and guaranteeing Buller the maximum five championship points. Gibson converted and the final whistle sounded soon after with Buller deservedly ahead 26-11.

From an individual viewpoint the first mention must go to Buller flanker Luke Brownlie who, remarkably, was playing his 128th consecutive game for the province. Typically he was here, there and everywhere. Other forwards to shine were lock and captain Paul Rossiter and No8 Lee Neimes.

Nabainivalu was a champion attacker for the visitors in the backs as was second-five William Saukuru and there was a lot to like about the way Gibson ran the show from first-five.

Nobody could quibble at the energy expended by the Wairarapa-Bush forwards who maintained a high workrate throughout the course of the 80 minutes, none more so than lock Andrew McLean who made several rampaging bursts and was also good value through his competitiveness in the mauls and lineouts.

Flanker James Goodger impressed with his ability to make it over the advantage line whenever he had the chance to show his running skills and also for his willingness to scrap for any loose ball and his fellow flanker Johan Van Vliet was little behind him on both counts.

In skipper Joss Tua-Davidson Wairarapa-Bush had a No8 who probably made more tackles than anyone else on the paddock and who seldom failed to make handy ground with ball in hand.

And front rowers Kurt Simmonds and Wilbur Davies were strong in the scrums and diligent workers in all phases of the tight forward game.

The Wairarapa-Bush backs simply didn't have the fluency or accuracy of their Buller opposites.

Matt O'Connor was gutsy enough at halfback and his second half replacement Inia Katia definitely added zest to their attacking play but, overall, too many basic errors were made on both attack and defence.

In other Heartland matches played over the weekend Wanganui beat Thames Valley 31-21, South Canterbury beat King Country 45-17, North Otago hammered East Coast 52-17, West Coast beat Horowhenua-Kapiti 22-3 and Poverty Bay edged out Mid-Canterbury 8-6. Saturday's loss leaves Wairarapa-Bush with only King Country behind them on the points table but for Buller the maximum five points took them to 14 and the outright lead on the competition ladder.

Wanganui and North Otago both have 13, followed by Thames Valley 10, Poverty Bay and East Coast 8, South Canterbury and Mid-Canterbury 6, West Coast and Horowhenua-Kapiti 5, Wairarapa-Bush 2 and King Country 0. And the task doesn't get any easier for Wairarapa-Bush who travel to Oamaru next Saturday to take on North Otago and then head to Ruatoria the following weekend to play East Coast.

Their next home game is against Poverty Bay in Carterton on September 10.