Maori All Blacks vs Ireland

Ireland suffered a punishing 32-17 defeat by the Māori All Blacks in Hamilton as Andy Farrell fielded five uncapped players for the warm-up match.

Healy then departed with a serious-looking problem, leaving Farrell seemingly short at loosehead heading to the first Test at Eden Park. Loughman, who was forced off inside two minutes before initially returning following a head-injury assessment, was permanently replaced by Healy at the break. Ioane was becoming increasingly influential and, having added his second penalty of the match, twice converted after being heavily involved in scores for Shaun Stevenson and captain Brad Weber.

See how the Ireland players fared as their tour opens up with a loss to the Maori All Blacks.

Andy Farrell is now presented with a disaster situation with just one fit loosehead in the squad just days out from the first Test. Plenty of players asked to play out of position off the bench in a case of just plugging holes where possible. Ryan Baird busy without much impact, Mike Lowry asked to play out of position due to the Hume injury while Jack Conan got a few token seconds. Drew two defenders in the 10 channel to feed Aki for the first half score but more was needed from him carrying-wise in the first half. Offered more carrying in wide channels but slipped off a few attempted chop-tackles. Fared much better in the scrum against Maori replacement loosehead Tamaiti Williams. Tackle count low by his usual standards and more was needed from him in the carry. Took his own try well in recognising gap opened by Coombes Rating: 5 Lineout looked more secure with Niall Scannell in charge of darts. Some nice touches when running behind decoys but failed to take control of the game in the first half when his pack couldn’t hold onto the ball for more than five phases. Looked panicked at times when deciding if to jam in or stay put and marshal Stevenson. Also suffered from a lack of attacking ball in his channel. One good early break but not afforded the space to utilise his usually devastating footwork. Not asked to do a lot with ball in hand as Ireland often failed to get to width. Decent backfield coverage in the first half and had one good late angle through a soft shoulder.

So the Irish start their tour with a loss, blown away largely by a phenomenal first half performance from the Maori All Blacks. Despite less than ideal ...

So the Irish start their tour with a loss, blown away largely by a phenomenal first half performance from the Maori All Blacks.