Wairarapa-Bush have nothing to fear in semi

Wairarapa-Bush have nothing to fear against Horowhenua-Kapiti in their Lochore Cup Heartland championship rugby semi-final match at Levin tomorrow.
Yes, Horowhenua-Kapiti will start favourites after beating Wairarapa-Bush in preliminary round play and finishing ahead of them on the points table heading into the semis but they are beatable with a capital B.
That much was proved just last weekend when Poverty Bay travelled to Levin and walloped the home side by 36-8.
So one-sided was that contest it would have at least dented the confidence in the Horowhenua-Kapiti camp while, on the other hand, Wairarapa-Bush were building theirs with a massive 67-23 win over East Coast.
Sure, East Coast were at the end of what for them has been a miserable season and were ripe for the picking but scoring 10 tries against any opposition is a tall order and Wairarapa-Bush did well to manage it.
That the tries won't come as thick and fast tomorrow is an absolute given of course but their effort last weekend showed just how dangerous an attacking unit Wairarapa-Bush can be when they play the sound, sensible rugby required to create the space needed for their pacy outside backs to cut loose.
In fact, had they stuck to that recipe from the word go this season they would very probably have been contending for the Meads Cup rather than the Lochore Cup & but now is hardly the time to go down that road, is it?
For the Wairarapa-Bush pack their big challenge will be to nullify the influence of the Horowhenua-Kapiti loose forwards, whose speed to the breakdown and constructiveness once they get there is very obviously one of their side's greatest attributes.
As coach Kelvin Tantrum has already stressed in his post-match comments it will be crucial that his forwards protect possession and work the ball through two or three phases so as to ensure the opposition loosies are taken out of the equation before it is released to the backs.
Wairarapa-Bush will also want to dominate in the set pieces of scrum and lineout, and they are capable of doing exactly that. Their scrum, has, in fact, hardly been bettered all season and even without the injured Dylan Higgison at prop should more than hold their own again while the introduction of Andrew McLean at lock has shored up the lineout, where Tomasi Kedrabuka has all too often been something of a lone hand.
Utilising the ball-running skills of forwards like Kedrabuka, Joe Harwood, Nathan Rolls and Mike Spence is another must for Wairarapa-Bush, particularly in the "pick and go" situations which have become such a big part of the forward game these days. Unity will be vital there as any time the ball carrier is isolated the Horowhenua-Kapiti loosies will pounce.
In the backs you get the feeling that the two old heads in the Wairarapa-Bush backline, Nathan Couch at halfback and Patrick Rimene at first-five, will have a huge impact on tomorrow's game.
They have to perform the balancing act of keeping their forwards on the front foot while giving the likes of in-form wingers Junior Togia and Charlie Walker-Blair and fullback Cash Lafaele enough quality ball to strut their stuff and how successful they are seems sure to count for plenty in the end result.
Losing tomorrow is, of course, not an option for Wairarapa-Bush as it would mean the end of their season; a season which has been a source of considerable frustration and disappointment and which badly needs the Lochore Cup title to provide at least a semblance of respectability.
And victory will also give Wairarapa-Bush the chance to host the grand final at Memorial Park the following weekend & something which would happen if South Canterbury upset Poverty Bay in the other semi-final match.