Maori maul US in 8-try hiding
MAYBE that wily old campaigner Colin Cooper fooled us all when he said the NZ Maori could only keep things simple for the ‘‘test match’’ against the United States.
Because the Maori unleashed enough tricks to embarrass the US by running in eight tries on a mild evening in Chicago, easing home 54-7 winners.
Sure, five were scored off lineouts – and the US defence was slack – but there were a couple of clever little plays among those efforts.
Earlier in the week, John Mitchell, the former All Blacks coach now in charge of the US programme, said this wasn’t a test for his team and, technically, he was correct.
The Maori acknowledged that official caps wouldn’t be awarded, but this a big deal for them. And you would have to say they must be at short odds to complete their tour with three Ws because they will only get better; Munster and Harlequins, in Limerick and London, are their next targets.
Even with Damian McKenzie, Rieko Ioane, Tawera Kerr-Barlow and Elliot Dixon to be repatriated back to the All Blacks, the Maori, with another a couple of training sessions under their belts will continue to thrive.
Big men running hard have been a common sight for those who have cared to watch the NFL sports channels this week, and Americans love that aggression and power.
So it stands to reason they should have enjoyed watching the powerful No8 Akira Ioane clamp his hands around the pill; he scored a couple of tries, and admittedly the second was far too easy, as a reminder to All Blacks coach Steve Hansen that he, too, could be worthy joining younger brother Rieko in the national squad.
The score could have blown out even more, but when Cooper emptied his bench the Maori struggled to gain their rhythm and the yellow card to replacement halfback Brad Weber was of no assistance.
Four converted tries by halftime, three a consequence of plays directly off the set-piece, guaranteed the Maori a stressfree halftime break.
If you were going to debate with one of your mates which was the best of the first spell, you probably would have scored some valuable points if you selected left wing James Lowe’s second effort.
It must be remembered the Maori, who had only recently flushed the jet lag from their systems after getting four sleeps in their hotel beds, only really had one decent training this week.
Which is why the crisp skills and understanding required to create Lowe’s try were worthy of a mention.
Tom Franklin secured ball at the tail of the lineout and fed Tawera Kerr-Barlow, who then watched as Ihaia West popped a neat little kick in behind the defensive line for Elliot Dixon to grab and then flick to Lowe.