IF THE touring Irish development squad thought yesterday's game against King Country was winnable beforehand, they were even surer afterwards which made the 32-26 defeat all the more galling. This fourth defeat in five games belongs very much in the self inflicted category. The Irish almost had to try to lose it.

Coming after a win, this is of course a very characteristic feature of Irish international rugby teams. The letdown after the win over Thames Valley was most acute in a sluggish and rudderless opening half. Trailing 22-0 - a hell of an achievement in itself considering the Irish had enough ball to be in front - some more tactical substitutions by Brian Ashton contributed to another turnaround. Even then the Irish came up short repeating some of the poor decision making, turn overs in possession, and defensive shortcomings of the first period.

"Bitterly disappointed," was how Brian Ashton summed up his feelings. The players filed out of the dressing room slower than after any other game on tour, long sombre faces matching long, sombre jackets and ties.

It had been more costly for some than for others. Half backs Andrew Matchett and Mick Lynch were on the wrong end of tactical substitutions before half time and captain Gary Halpin was replaced at the interval. The skipper has only completed one full game out of five, and he is struggling to keep up with the pace of the games over here.

"It's very disappointing. A lot of people aren't performing out here, myself included," he volunteered candidly. "We had all the play really. Three times they got the ball and three times they scored in the first half. It is a low on this tour because it would have been nice to go into the last two games with a win. There's a bit of soul searching to be done but, heh, we've nothing to do but keep going. He (Ashton) made a number of changes which seemed to make a difference."

Including the replacement of Halpin himself. "That was very disappointing. It frustrates me, because I have an injury. My knee hasn't been right throughout the tour and at the pace of this game it's showing me up badly."

"We said before the game that we'd play a very simple, direct game," said Ashton. "Yet the number of times we just drifted the ball across their midfield was quite phenomenal. It's down to a lack of direction on the field. A simple game is a simple game.

On a positive note? "We won the second half again," Ashton said. "But if we're only going to turn up at halftime we're going to cause massive problems for ourselves, aren't we?"

Looking ahead to next Tuesday's imposing encounter with the Maoris in Palmerston North, Ashton was asked if the management knew what constituted their best team. His response was an accurate barometer of how the tour lies now. "We know our best 10."

That's about the extent of it. Conor O'Shea, at fullback, Rob Henderson at first centre, Richard Governey and, most probably, Brian O'Meara at half back pick themselves. Alongside Barry McConnell at hooker, Gary Halpin may now lose out to Gavin Walsh on the tighthead side, thereby necessitating a rethink about the captaincy.

The secondrow, indicative of Ireland's newfound strength in this area, is amply covered by Gabriel Fulcher, Malcolm O'Kelly and Brian Cusack. David Erskine will be the first name pencilled into the back row. He may again be flanked by Kieran Dawson and David Wallace, even though the latter bad his least compelling game so far.

"I suspect that by the end of the tour there'll be a nucleus of about 18 players who'll have played in a hell of a lot of games. That's a tall order, but it's just the way things developed on tour," said Ashton.

Asked if he was confident that his best XV could give the Maoris "a good run" on Tuesday, the hint of a sardonic smile crept into the corner of Ashton's mouth. "Yeah, I am, assuming we can put our best XV out. We need to check the injury situation."

Fortunately, in that regard, the main concern arising out of yesterday's battle was not causing undue alarm - Erskine suffering from nothing more serious than double vision after sustaining a finger in his left eye. The Irish need every big gun at their disposal on Tuesday night, and with a clear aim.