But in the hunt to secure maximum points against a side which had been hammered by competition leaders South Canterbury and Thames Valley, Whanganui just could not crack the all-important fourth try, as some mistakes and the symphony of the whistle at the breakdown continued.
Having played his 75th game last week, halfback Lindsay Horrocks kept up the queries with official Stu Catley about just what his side was doing wrong at the breakdown, as Wairarapa Bush drove in and looked to get their hands on it at every opportunity.
Still, the home side was guilty of some lapses in execution, while Wairarapa Bush were buoyed by still being in the contest, ultimately camping in Whanganui's territory to score the last try on fulltime and register their first point of the Bunning Heartland competition.
Goal-kicking winger Moomoo Falanikoi earned that try as part of a strong game alongside fellow winger Soli Malatai - both also trying to be playmakers for a team that lost All Black Zac Guildford before kickoff.
Lock Sam Gammie gave an inspired performance with some monster tackles which rattled Whanganui cages, plus some key turnovers.
For the home side, Tutauha gave a very committed effort, aside from accidently spilling the ball onto his knee over the tryline in the first half, while as the sole specialist lock, Lane was monumental.
Second-five Ethan Robinson took the goal-kicking reins off both Craig Clare and Dane Whale, who both have more experience from the tee at Cooks Gardens than he does, but Robinson was on-song with all three second half kicks, including from the sideline.
He also moved into first-five in the latter stages and played with assurance.
But in a season without Meads Cup semifinals, missing the bonus point and making just a small positive differential in a game which on paper which should have been clear-cut remains a worry.
"Very stop-start. Discipline wasn't where it should be and we talked about that before the game," said coach Jason Caskey.
"When you're giving them away, you can't get a roll-on.
"First half, into the wind, usually we can get into the game, but we didn't let it happen, giving away penalties.
"You don't get more than 2-3 phases . It's just tight."
After choosing Lane as man of the match, he had also been happy with the maturity of Robinson.
"There was some good things, just not as many, probably, as there should be.
"But Wairarapa Bush were a bit disappointed in themselves after last week against South Canterbury – they're a better team than they've been showing."
Campbell Hart paid tribute to his clubmate Tutauha, who went deep into the game before handing off to debutant Jack van Bussel.
"There might be a bit of a fine for a grubber kick over the tryline.
"Both him and Lindsay have given a lot for this jersey. In the modern Heartland, 75 [games] is probably the new 100, so it's a massive achievement."
The skipper was also unhappy with the lack of momentum the side could generate, either by defenders hands or the dreaded whistle.
"I don't know if that's us making errors or just how the referee was seeing the rucks or whatever.
"It seemed to be, from my impression, that we weren't doing our jobs in turns of cleaning out – we talk about too much daylight – so there's that and then silly ones that just let the pressure off.
"We need to get better in that area. It was the same problem last week and we can't go further in this competition if we can't sort the problem out."
Whanganui 22 (Roman Tutauha 2, Jamie Hughes tries; Ethan Robinson pen, 2 con) bt Wairarapa Bush 18 (Tristan Flutey, Moomoo Falanikoi tries; Falanikoi pen, con, Sam Morison con). HT: 11-5 Wairarapa Bush.
