Ireland bounce back with win over Māori All Blacks

Ireland clinched a deserved 30-24 victory against the Māori All Blacks in Tuesday’s July international in Wellington.

After suffering a 32-17 defeat in the first encounter of their two-match series against the New Zealand indigenous team, this was a much improved performance from Ireland’s midweek outfit.

Both sides scored four tries apiece with Jordan Larmour leading the way for Ireland with a brace while Nick Timoney and Gavin Coombes also crossed the whitewash and Ciaran Frawley added 10 points courtesy of two conversions and as many penalties.

The Māori All Blacks’ points came via a penalty try and further five-pointers from Shaun Stevenson, Ruben Love and Brad Weber, while Josh Ioane added a conversion.

The Māori were fastest out of the blocks and just two minutes after kick-off their backs created space, after a lineout inside Ireland’s 22, before Stevenson ran onto a pass from Ioane and crossed for the opening try.

Five minutes later, Ireland caught the Māori napping when Keith Earls took a quick throw-in at a lineout just inside the home side’s half.  He found Larmour, who raced away before dotting down under the posts.

Frawley added the extras and with the visitors holding a two-point lead they became more confident in their approach as they took the fight to their opponents.

The next 20 minutes was an arm wrestle as both sides tried to gain the ascendancy and it was the visitors who would ultimately do that as they finished the half as the stronger of the two sides.

In the 25th minute, Frawley extended Ireland’s lead when he slotted a penalty after Kurt Eklund infringed at a ruck.  The visitors suffered a setback two minutes later, however, when Cian Prendergast was yellow carded for tackling Isaia Walker-Leawere without retreating 10 metres when the hosts played quickly after being awarded a penalty just outside Ireland’s 22.

However, in the 32nd minute the Māori were also reduced to 14 men when Ollie Norris received a yellow card for a cynical defensive foul close to his try-line.  Ireland set up a lineout maul from the resulting penalty and after a couple of strong drives, Timoney powered his way over the whitewash from close quarters.  Frawley slotted the conversion to give Ireland a 17-5 half-time lead.

The second half started brightly for Ireland when, soon after the restart, Frawley added his second penalty after Walker-Leawere was blown up for taking out Timoney illegally at a ruck.

Five minutes later, the hosts reduced the deficit courtesy of their penalty try after Alex Nankivell was tackled without the ball close to Ireland’s try-line.  Larmour was the guilty party and he was also sent to the sin bin for his indiscretion.

Strong finish

Despite that setback, the Irish did well not to concede points while Larmour was off the field.  Ireland eventually extended their lead in the 67th minute when Coombes burrowed his way over the try-line from close quarters and although Frawley was off target with the conversion attempt, the visitors had their tails up with the score 25-12 in their favour.

The Māori needed a response and that came in the 69th minute when Love crossed for his try after trading passes with Cullen Grace, but they suffered a blow soon after when Stevenson was also yellow carded for deliberately knocking down a Joey Carbery pass just inside Ireland’s half.

Ireland secured the result when Larmour went over for his second try in the 77th minute ― after good work from Stuart McCloskey in the build-up ― before Weber scored a consolation try for the home side in the game’s dying moments.

Māori All Blacks' first half blitz clinches victory over Ireland

The Māori All Blacks proved too strong for Ireland as they clinched a 32-17 victory in an entertaining international in Hamilton on Wednesday.

The home side were full value for their win as they made an excellent start to the match and raced into a 32-10 lead at half-time.

Ireland came back strongly after the interval but, although they scored the only points in the second half, the damage was done during the opening period and the Māori All Blacks did enough to clinch their victory.

In the end, they outscored Andy Farrell’s men by four tries to two with Zarn Sullivan, Shaun Stevenson, Brad Weber and Cullen Grace crossing the whitewash, while Josh Ioane finished with a 12-point haul courtesy of three conversions and two penalties.

For Ireland, Bundee Aki and Gavin Coombes scored tries while Ciaran Frawley succeeded with two conversions and a penalty.

The opening exchanges were cagey, with Frawley and Ioane trading penalties which meant the sides were deadlocked at 3-3 after eight minutes.  Ten minutes later, the home side were rewarded with the opening try ― Sullivan rounding off after Ioane and Billy Harmon laid the groundwork with strong carries in the build-up.

It did not take long for the visitors to respond and they did it in style in the 20th minute when Coombes gathered the ball from Nick Timoney off the back of a maul just outside the Māori All Blacks’ 22 and set off towards the try-line.  He did well to draw in a couple of defenders before offloading to Aki, who burst through a gap in the home side’s defence before crossing under the posts.

Frawley added the extras but that was as good as it got for Ireland in the opening period as the rest of the half was dominated by the home side.  Ioane added a penalty in the 27th minute before he turned provider by launching a stunning attack from inside his own half before offloading to Stevenson, who outsprinted the cover defence on his way over the try-line.

That score seemed to boost the Māori’s confidence as they continued to attack at every opportunity.  In the 35th minute, they found themselves on the attack deep inside Ireland’s half with Rameka Poihipi stopped just short of the try-line after a strong carry.  From the ensuing ruck, Weber gathered before diving over for a deserved try.

And just before the interval, the hosts launched a counter attack from inside their 22 with Stevenson prominent.  He set off on a mazy run before throwing a poor pass to Harmon, who booted the ball ahead deep inside Ireland’s half before regathering.  The flanker then got a pass out to Grace, who crashed over the whitewash which meant the Māori had their tails up with a comfortable lead at the break.

Ireland were more competitive in the second half and in the 48th minute they thought they had narrowed the gap when Timoney crossed the Māori All Blacks’ try-line but television replays revealed that Isaia Walker-Leawere did well to hold him up and the score was ruled out.

Improvement from Ireland in second half

Despite that setback, the visitors continued to attack but they were kept at bay by a solid defensive effort from the home side, who also had some good moments with ball in hand but poor finishing meant they could not add to their points tally.

Ireland were finally rewarded in the 67th minute when, after an extensive period camped inside the Māori’s 22, they took a tap penalty with Niall Scannell leading the way before Coombes crashed over from close quarters.

The rest of the match was an even affair as both sides looked to finish the match on a high but it wasn’t to be as neither would score further points.