We're in the final!

IT wasn't pretty but we will take it.
That about sums up the general reaction to Wairarapa-Bush's 20-14 win over Buller in their NPC third division rugby semi-final match played before a large and enthusiastic crowd at a cold and windy Memorial Park in Masterton on Saturday.
In terms of quality it was by no means the home team's best performance of the season but no matter., it was their most important win to date and was enough to take them through to the third division grand final against Horowhenua-Kapiti at Memorial Park next weekend.
A try in the opening minute to fullback Bart Viguurs was a dream start for Wairarapa-Bush but any thoughts of a romp were quickly dismissed when Buller answered with a try of their own only four minutes later.
From then on it was very much a case of both teams taking turns at spending time deep in opposition territory and to Wairarapa-Bush's credit it can be fairly said they made better use of their scoring opportunities.
Whereas they managed to run in two further tries ? one of them a brilliant solo effort by Viguurs- Buller had to rely on the boot of flanker Jared Beyer for the remainder of their points.
As a spectacle the match was certainly nothing to write home about With Wellington referee Brent Murray constantly on his whistle it was somewhat of a stop-start affair with neither side getting any real flow into their game. In fact, the number of attacking movements which went more than just three or four phases could probably have been counted on one hand..
It must be said though that the strength of the Buller challenge was far greater than most people anticipated , especially after the two big beatings they had taken from Horowhenua-Kapiti and King Country in their two previous games.
Their forwards were a feisty lot who competed strongly in all ball winning avenues, particularly the scrums where they actually managed to grab two tightheads, a very rare occurrence in any form of rugby these days. And they generally made good metreage when on the pick and go, an area where front rowers Craig Nelson and Glen Atkin and lock Richard Anderson were generally at the head of their rushes.
Helping them to make ground there though was a tendency for their Wairarapa-Bush counterparts to stand back and wait for them to come to them rather than moving in quickly to take the initial ball carrier out of play.
There was some enthusiastic play in the loose too from Buller's Luke Brownlee and Danny O'Connor, both of whom covered plenty of ground on attack and defence.
It would be fair to say the Wairarapa-Bush forwards have had better days even accounting for the quality of their opposition.
In the first half, in particular, they lacked their usual mobility around the paddock, were surprisingly tentative in some of their defensive work around the fringes of the rucks and mauls and all too seldom arrived at the breakdowns in big numbers.
Their second half effort was certainly improved with possession being retained for longer periods, an absolutely necessity with Wairarapa-Bush playing into the wind and having a tenuous points advantage on the scoreboard.
In Tomasi Kedarabuka the home side had a champion lineout forward who took down virtually every ball thrown to him and who spoiled the odd Buller throw as well and you couldn't quibble at the leadership of lock Mike Robinson, who was always hard to stop when on the charge and who was one of his side's surer defenders.
It was a busy day at the office for Robinson for as Wairarapa-Bush skipper he also had a number of discussions with referee Murray, whose rulings were often mystifying, to say the least. Mystifying to not only the home team but Buller as well!
Perhaps one the most mystifying from the grandstands though was not a mystery at all. Play was stopped for some minutes when North Harbour line umpire Greg Watson was forced to leave the field for a short time with a cut on his face but any thoughts of it being caused by an over-exubherant spectator were scotched later when it was discovered he had become inadvertently tangled up with Wairarapa-Bush mascot, Rory the Stag.
And it was one of Rory's antlers which had drawn the blood.
In flankers Daimon Neal and Sam Henderson Wairarapa-Bush had two players who got through a decent workload on defence and Henderson was also one of their more effective runners with ball in hand.
If their forwards have had better days the same goes for the Wairarapa-Bush backs, more particularly on attack than defence.
Indeed there was lot to admire in the aggressive tackling in midfield of Nathan Couch and Simanu Simanu and the good positional sense of fullback Bart Viguurs.
There was little sign throughout the match though of the considerable attacking talents in the Wairarapa-Bush rearguard with the inside backs too often failing to provide the decisive decision making so vital from players in their position.
In the first 40 minutes especially too many 50-50 passes were made with bad results and you had to wonder why with the elements behind them they generally tried to make territory by moving the ball by hand rather than kicking it deep inside the opposition 22 and going from there.
That they still managed to score three tries does, however, does say something about the attacking skills of the Wairarapa-Bush backs when they do click and they could have had a couple of more as well.
Halfback Hamish McKenzie, who came on in the second half, starred in one 70 metre dash which probably should have produced a try but ended with him being tackled about five metres short of the line and the ball spilling forward.
And wing Esava Teko must have come mighty close to being awarded a penalty try when he was heading the chase for the bouncing ball close to the Buller goalline late in the game and appeared to be taken out of play.
It was fullback Viguurs though who was clearly the most dynamic attacker for the home side.
He scored two tries, the first of them when he burst onto the ball and crashed his way between two defenders and the second with a stunning 40 metre dash which saw him confuse at least four would-be tacklers with a mixture of pace and nifty footwork.
Buller's inside backs were also guilty of average decision making, especially late in the game when with a converted try required for the win they kept moving the ball back into the forwards rather than looking for open spaces out wide. First-five Sam Nelson did display a prodigious punt at times and second-five Michael Mumm shirked nothing on defence.
Viguurs scored two tries and Marika Tau one for Wairarapa-Bush while.Patrick Rimene , who had an of day with the boot,landed one penalty and one conversion. Etuale Togia scored a try for Buller and Jared Beyer kicked three penalties.