NZ Ma¯ori fall to the French
Controversial yellow cards and repeat doses of argy-bargy is what many will remember in the aftermath of the ill-tempered NZ Maori 19-15 loss to the French Barbarians yesterday morning.
For NZ Maori coach Clayton McMillan the analysis should go much deeper. If done thoroughly it will peel back the lid on some more unpleasant truths, because the reality is the NZ Maori just didn’t fire enough shots to win this fixture, the second and final game of their northern tour, in Bordeaux.
To beat the French you need to be disciplined, and the Maori failed to adhere to the principles of controlling their tempers and limiting their errors against a confrontational side.
How is this for an ugly stats sheet? The Maori conceded 15 penalties, missed 10 tackles – a number of them being simple one-on-one shots – made 11 handling errors and turned the ball over 18 times.
Maori first five-eighth Jackson Garden-Bachop, who was replaced by Ihaia West midway through the second half, didn’t have a great night; the former had a kick charged down, which led to a try to Baabaas flanker Baptiste Chouzenoux, and some of his punting in general play wasn’t accurate.
A yellow card against Maori replacement Jordan Manihera for cleaning out a loitering Frenchman at the back of a ruck was harsh, but it was also indicative of the need to stay disciplined.
In his absence the Baabaas extended their lead to 19-8 with three-quarters of the game gone.
French Barbarians 19 (Baptiste Chouzenoux, Adrien Pelissie tries; Romain N’tamack 2 pen, Thomas Ramos pen) New Zealand Ma¯ ori 15
(Sean Wainui try, penalty try; Jackson Garden-Bachop pen). HT: 8-3.