Wairarapa must play for their lives

Wairarapa-Bush rugby coach Kelvin Tantrum doesn't mince words when it comes to his team's approach in the last of their Heartland championship pool A matches against Buller at Memorial Park this coming Saturday.
"They have to play like their lives depend on it, there's no other way," Tantrum said of a match which Wairarapa-Bush must win if they are to have any chance of making the playoffs for the premier section, the Meads Cup, from the following weekend onwards.
The top three teams in each of the two pools qualify for the Meads Cup and Wairarapa-Bush currently holds down fourth place in pool A behind Wanganui, West Coast and Horowhenua-Kapiti.
However, if they beat Buller and, as expected, Wanganui, beat West Coast without the latter gaining the maximum two bonus points and Horowhenua-Kapiti beat East Coast ,Wairarapa-Bush will leapfrog West Coast on the points table and progress through to the Meads Cup as a consequence.
Tantrum is expecting no favours, however, from a Buller side which gave Wanganui a huge fright before losing by just six points on Saturday and which is sure to play with an attitude of everything to gain and nothing to lose.
"This is going to be a very difficult match for us, we certainly can't afford to have an off day," he said. "They (Buller) will be up for it, nothing is surer than that."
Whether Wairarapa-Bush will have the services of big kicking first-five Byron Karaitiana, was still in doubt yesterday.
Karaitiana was in majestic form in the first half of Wairarapa-Bush's 13-12 defeat by Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin last weekend and his absence was keenly felt when a shoulder injury forced him to watch the second half from the sidelines.
Replacing Karaitiana at first-five in Levin was his Masterton Red Star teammate Sele Tugaga but whether he did enough to retain that berth should Karaitiana be ruled out of the Buller match is open to debate.
Entering the equation should the worst happen would be the experienced Marist utility back Nathan Couch, who has been filling a mentoring role in the current squad, and also a couple of players from the well-performed Wairarapa-Bush B squad in Chris Osborne and Jason Kjestrup.Interestingly enough Osborne also plays at club level for Masterton Red Star.
Tantrum and his fellow selectors Neil Foote and Steve Hurley might also have to decide whether they start with Duncan Law at No.8.He has missed the last three Heartyland games through injury but has progressed to the point where he is very close to be fit enough for a recall
A robust player who likes nothing better than a physical confrontation Law could be seen as good value for a game against a Buller team which, from all accounts, boasts a rugged set of forwards.
And then of course there is the problem of which of their four "loan players" will play, only three being allowed to be named for any one Heartland match. So far flanker Joss Tua-Davidson and wing Junior Topgia have basically taken turns at drawing the short straw but both could be seen as crucial against Buller, Tua-Davidson for his assertiveness and Togia for his ability to create something out of nothing on attack.