Irish developers get Maori approval

MATT TE POU, dark skinned, handsome in a weather-beaten sort of way and slightly gaunt, comes across as a genuine sort of fellow, a good coach and a proud Maori who chooses his words as if he means every one of them. He's not a shouter, but one could well imagine that people, especially his Maori rugby players, listen when he talks.

Whereas some betray an innate New Zealand rugby arrogance in scoffing at what the Irish are trying to do on this tour Te Pou is one of those who has looked closely and gives a more considered view.

"The Irish were quite positive with the ball in hand," observed Te Pou, who has watched the Irish in all their games on television, while attending that cathartic comeback against the Bay of Plenty.

"That's where I saw them turning it around. From 45-3 down, they scored five tries and were very positive. They have come here to learn and, I tell you, what, they're on target. They certainly are.

Having singled out Rob Henderson, Te Pou added: "When you look at some of the things that the Irish (used to) do, like kick and run, now they're actually tapping it and just going. You start like that and you'll get continuous improvement. But you've got to start somewhere. No, no, I take my hat off to them.

"There were a couple of times, especially in the first half when they were unlucky not to score. Instead of 16-10, it could have been a lot closer and a different game," added Te Pou, who defended his side's choice to kick for goal rather than sate the fickle if small home crowd by kicking penalties. "This was not Super 12. This was a test."

Brian Ashton lamented those missed first-half opportunities. "I thought we played well in the first half and we should have been ahead. Given the strength of the opposition, it was probably the best 40 minutes we've had so far on tour."

Reluctant as he is to single out individuals, it's hard not to notice that the coach is becoming ever sweeter on Richard Governey. "I thought Governey had an outstanding game, and played the conditions very well . . .

"But as we've seen all through the tour, the power up front told at the end of the day. In the second half we just could not get any platform ball at all. We were on the back. foot in contact situations. We were turned over quite regularly, and they picked and drove very well. But having said that, as those who have seen the earlier tour games will testify, we could have crumbled defensively, but we didn't."

A couple of things still gnawed away at him. "When we had snatches of opportunities, technically when we were under pressure, we weren't quite good enough to get the ball away. But they just do not play under that kind of pressure at home."

The other post-match bone of contention was referee Paul Macfie. Flummoxed by the penalty try, Ashton regarded it as a "34-10" defeat. Cue to Pat Whelan. "When you look at the way he refereed the game, right up until half-time we were in the match, yet all the critical 50-50s went against us. He was totally inconsistent in his application of the laws. He was penalising us and at the same time, he wouldn't penalise them."

Gabriel Fulcher confirmed that Macfie refused to talk to him in the second period. Reflecting on the penalties against the Irish in the rucks, he admitted: "Having said that, we made an incredible amount of errors as well when we carried the ball. We can't really excuse ourselves for that."

As one of only five capped players in this side, and the only capped forward, Fulcher is not one for back-slapping. "Sooner or later we have to score those tries," he said.