Wairarapa-Bush selectors stay loyal to winning team

Hansells Wairarapa-Bush have stayed loyal to the players who gave them a 46-0 win over West Coast last weekend for their Heartland championship rugby match with Thames Valley at Paeroa on Saturday.
They will field exactly the same starting XV and there are no changes to the reserve bench either.
Coach Graham Cheetham said that while the effort against West Coast was anything but perfect it was certainly good enough for him and fellow coach Lofty Stevenson to maintain consistency in their selection policies.
"We didn't feel the need to change the team, they picked up maximum points first time up and you can't ask for anything more than that," he said. "We do have a few bumps and bruises but I can't see those changing things either."
Cheetham agrees Thames Valley, which beat Mid-Canterbury 13-7 in their opening Heartland game, will provide more formidable opposition than the abysmal West Coast outfit but he says Wairarapa-Bush will be travelling north with the idea of again securing maximum points, four for a win and a bonus point for four or more tries.
"We want the full five points and it's definitely on," he said. "If we make the sort of improvement we're aiming for it can happen."
Cheetham said the ground and weather conditions would dictate to a large degree the tactical approach adopted by Wairarapa-Bush in Paeroa but he is hopeful they will allow his side to play an open, free-flowing style of game.
"We have enough flair and speed out wide to use our backs every chance we get and that's what we want to do," he said. "But we're not too worried if it's a forward slog either, we can cope with that too".
The Wairarapa-Bush team is: Heemi Tupaea; Jordan Fox, Simanu Simanu, Tapanga Isaac, Lance Stevenson; John Dodd; Hamish McKenzie; Steve Olds; Josh Mackey, Tomasi Kedarabuka, Dan Griffin, Mike Spence (captain); Shane Temana, Joe Harwood, Brett Rudman. Reserves: Mosese Gutuvakaca, Brendon Walker, Jarod Bambry, Solly Alsop, Mike Hollis, Jon Guillard, Lima Lauvi.