I will start with firstly the anthems which were brilliant. No need for some star making a hash of the anthem. Use the P.A. system, Great.
Then the tribute to Sean Wainui. The Irish skipper, Bundee Aki, who is a Kiwi, and played for the Chiefs before heading overseas, laid the number 11 jersey on halfway prior to the haka, and later, Wainui’s wife and two children collected the jumper. What a fantastic gesture to a great player and Maori All Black. I think the Maori team used Sean as motivation and to show the love and respect from the team for a great player and friend.
The game itself was a great game with both sides prepared to play.
Wayne Barnes the referee was fantastic communicating to the players, and the assistant refs or linesman stayed out of the game.
No need for the video ref as the ref made the calls on the field. The way it should be. I am sick of every decision going upstairs to a video ref to watch 56 replays and still get it wrong.
The Maori team was on fire with some new faces giving the selectors some thoughts for the future. The Maori loose forwards shone for me and overall there are some players coming through who would not disappoint in the AB jumper.
The Maori team were not perfect but were very skillful considering the short time together and the weather conditions which were wet and slippery.
The Irish were short of a run, and gave away too many penalties, which you can not do against good teams.
Overall they played well and will get better as the tour continues and they get used to NZ conditions.
I must praise the commentators as well and the pre game assessments by people who understand the modern game and the pronunciation of players names.
After watching the crew on Super Rugby in Australia, the staff in NZ are way ahead of the game. The aussie pre game and half time analyst is a bore fest. The exception been Andrew Mehrtens. The others are dreadful, how did Cheika get the Wallaby job? Even on his big screen at half time he still can not understand how the play went. At lest with Dave Rennie you have a coach that reads the game very well. Players will follow someone like Rennie. Wait and watch.
For me I give the game 8.5 out of 10. Conditions spoiled things a little, but these sides meet again shortly, so keep watching and enjoy your footie.
Watch this player!! ↓
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