Fantastic weekend in store

TWO cracking games are in prospect in the semifinals of the Wairarapa-Bush Rugby Union’s Tui Cup premier division competition tomorrow.

The overall form guide for the 2015 season might suggest top seeds Greytown should have the edge on fourth seeds Marist in their battle at Greytown and likewise second seeds Pioneer over third seeds Gladstone at Masterton’s Jeans St ground, but it would take a brave punter to wager heavily on it.

Marist will be bold in their approach against Greytown. Predictable was never a description you could have given their coach, Nathan Couch, during his long and distinguished playing career for Wairarapa-Bush and it’s not a label you could put on the current Marist squad either. Sometimes their willingness to take risks in tight defensive situations gets them in deep strife, other times it can make them look like world beaters.

In broken play situations there is probably no more dangerous side than Marist in the whole of the premier division series. James Goodger, Kieran O’Brien, Shannon Rimene, Henry Wilson and Liam Devine are forwards who will back themselves to win any one-on-one confrontation with ball in hand.

And their rearguard isn’t exactly shy in similar circumstances either with Malatai Malatai, Mike Te Whare and Shannon Lewis all capable of creating something out of nothing.

Greytown will understand of course that if they are to alleviate the danger of Marist in broken play they will need to be structured and disciplined in their own approach and there are enough old heads in their squad to ensure that happens. Kurt Simmonds, Brent Rudman, Norm Henricksen and Johnny Avatea are forwards who know all the tricks of the trade and Kingi Kaiwai, Byron Karaitiana, Tavita Isaac and Nick Olson have like qualities in the backs.

The very different mindsets of the two teams make this an intriguing match but experience can be a huge component in semifinals rugby and Greytown has the advantage there.

The physicality of the forward exchanges promises to be a feature of the Gladstone v Pioneer fixture. Both packs contain strong ball runners, Andrew McLean, John Stevenson, Lance Graves and Richard Puddy (who will be on the flank rather than his usual role of hooker) for Gladstone; and Jaden Mason, Matt Kawana, Nathan Kapene and Lee Ewe for Pioneer, and both like to use short passing rushes as a means of making valuable metres before letting their backs loose.

The two rearguards contain exciting attackers with Pioneer perhaps having more depth in that area. Joseph Thompson, Cody Whittaker and Nikora Ewe all have the mix of pace and flair to trouble any defensive system while Jamie Smallman has emerged as one of the stars of the Pioneer squad with his powerful bursts in midfield. Cameron Hayton and Inia Katia are the two standouts in the Gladstone backline and it is interesting that the mercurial Katia will be at fullback on this occasion.

This is a game which very obviously could go either way but the extra zip in the Pioneer backs might be just enough to get them home.

By Gary Caffell – Wairarapa Times-Age