We hope you enjoy this look back as we look forward to many more years of recording the history of Wairarapa Bush Rugby Union.
We acknowledge all the information from the NZ “Rugby Almanack” Series from the season’s 1934 through to 2022 and appreciate their hard and dedicated work in providing this detailed history. – Web Admin

It was not the best of seasons for Wairarapa Bush. Two wins out of eight and a tenth-place finish tell the tale.

The side usually came up against bigger forward packs, but even so the same basic errors of tackles missed, handling and defensive gaps persisted at a high rate throughout the season.

Wairarapa Bush had a tough start to the campaign with the top three finishers, heavyweights Thames Valley, South Canterbury and Whanganui, all met in the opening three games.

Thames Valley and South Canterbury inflicted big defeats but Wairarapa Bush gave probably their best performance of the season against Whanganui, going down 18-22 after leading 11-0.

In the forwards flanker Johan Van Vliet was a colossus on defence and at turnover and lock Andrew McLean was a workhorse around the field and at the lineout.

The two props Lewis Bush and Jeremiah Mapusua got through a ton of work with ball carrying and Bush topped the try scoring with five. Van Vliet and Mapusua both had their season cut short by injury.

At hooker newcomer Henry Wilson showed considerable promise.Sam Gammie was a versatile performer who covered reserve prop, lock, blindside flanker and number eight and newcomer Dominic Herlihy improved through the season going from substitute lock to starting lock. Lock Peter Beech, who played well last year, missed the whole season due to injury.

The best of the backline were halfback Isaac Bracewell, who had an outstanding debut season and Tafa Tafa who was a sharp midfielder and strong defender.

Winger Moomoo Falaniko did not receive a lot of ball but scored three tries and kicked a long-range penalty goal with two minutes left to defeat West Coast, and it was unfortunate that Tristan Flutey and Zac Guildford could only appear in three and one games respectively due to injury.

Cap# & Wairarapa Bush REPRESENTATIVES 2021 {Total Games}

			Position
---		Penalty Try	--
**		Aisea Sakapo	Winger
**		Tuakana Riwai-Couch	--
**		Oakland Dean-Pene	--
477		Tavita A. Isaac	No. 8
483		Andrew Robert McLean	Lock
511		Johannes Jan Arie van Vliet	Flanker
517		Inia S.T. Katia	Fullback, Scrumhalf, Winger
518		Tipene T. Haira	Centre, First Five
551		Robert Joseph Anderson	Centre
569		Brendon J.W. 'BJ' Campbell	Flanker, No. 8
580		Eddie J. Cranston	Flanker, Loose Forward
581		Sam G. Gammie	Prop
586		Zac Guildford	Centre
587		Stan S. Wright (Snr)	Prop
589		Daryl J. Pickering	Scrumhalf
591		Elijah-James Pakoti	Hooker
600		Nikora V. Ewe	Centre, Winger
601		Soli Malatai	Centre, Winger
607		Pu’a Tafa	Hooker, Prop
612		Ryan Knell	Loose Forward, Lock
613		MooMoo Falaniko	Center, Fullback
616		Henry Wilson	Hooker
621		Tristan Flutey	Center, Winger
624		Paddy Gluck	Lock, Scrumhalf
627		Lewis Bush	Prop
632		Jeramiah Mapusua	Prop
640		Joseva Tako	Flanker
645		Ueta Tufuga	Center
648		Terongo Tekii	Hooker
651		Chris Hemi	Prop
652		Peter Beech	Lock
655		Tafa Tafa	Fullback
658		Tupou Lea'aemanu	Prop
660		Sam Morison	Fullback
661		Sam Siaosi	Prop
664		Vesi Luatua	Lock
665		Jake Goodger	No. 8
666		Dominic Herlihy	Forward
667		Matthew Masoe	No. 8
668		Matt Raleigh	Fullback, Winger
669		Isaac Bracewell	Scrumhalf
670		Matt Perry	Loose Forward
671		Fiula Tameilau	Utility Back
672		Logan Wakefield	Flanker
676		Sam Walton-Sexton	First Five, Scrumhalf
683		Aseri Waqa	Winger