NZ Maori 31 Ireland 28: A TEAM which was as much a mix of Ireland’s thirds as their seconds came within a score of a morale-boosting win which would probably have been the best on a Southern Hemisphere tour in the professional age. But this was much, much better than last Saturday.

The pity was that, having overturned an ominous 15-point deficit with such measured control and 22 unanswered points, they then let slip a game they had earned the right to win.

Perhaps they forced things a little, going for offloads that weren’t always on and making mistakes and conceding penalties in a manner which suggested there was just a smidgin of mental doubt that they could close the deal against a team in all-black.

Ireland came up short in part because Jonathan Sexton missed an angled penalty after he had landed an unerring eight from eight – including two from half-way – and because in part Niall Ronan, who also had an outstanding match, was pinged for a late penalty when quite possibly the ball had been inadvertently played by a black jersey.

The outcome also hinged on a couple of other critical calls by referee Mark Lawrence when the Maoris spoiled an Irish ruck close to the line, and this after he’d pinged Donncha O’Callaghan for leaving a lineout early.

Perhaps Lawrence’s biggest error, though, had been his failure to issue a yellow card for persistent infringing at the breakdown by the home side, even if five successive penalties at the breakdown had afforded Sexton the opportunity to gradually peg back deficits of 15-0 after 13 minutes and 18-3 by the end of the first quarter.

With 13,500 crammed into the Rotorua International Stadium on a pleasant, dry night, the Maoris put on a wonderfully choreographed haka which, while slower paced, was every bit as menacing, in this their spiritual heartland.

The scrums were pretty solid and the lineout much more accurate, although the Irish struggled either by design or ability to launch jumpers into the air and test the Maori lineout.

Aside from Sexton, who took a couple of late hits to play with impressive physicality and composure, and Ronan, a footballing openside who came up with a ton of clever plays, there were a host of good individual performances which will have given the Irish management food for thought as they moved on to Brisbane today.

Captain for the night Geordan Murphy performed impressively, while inside centre Paddy Wallace dovetailed neatly with Sexton as an auxiliary playmaker. Outside Wallace, Gavin Duffy really looked the part in the collisions in carrying hard and with pace all night.

Rhys Ruddock, a 19-year-old in what amounted to his fourth first-grade game, revelled in it all.

In the heel of the hunt though, it’s also hard to argue with three tries to one and a total of 23 missed tackles is still far too many for comfort. Indeed, things looked decidedly ominous for the men in green when they conceded two of those tries early on. Like last Saturday, Ireland struggled to re-align off quick ball as Luke McAlister feinted inside and gave a short pass outside for fullback Robbie Robinson to beat a despairing Wallace and put Hosea Gear over. Just eight minutes later outside centre Dwayne Sweeney stepped between Geordan Murphy and Ed O’Donoghue to score.

The Irish management and the rest of the squad positioned among a packed main stand must have feared a repeat.

In truth, it wasn’t the most intimidating of atmospheres, though the crowd’s decibel levels rose for the pre-match pageantry, the big hits and any daring counters from deep.

But Ireland worked their way back into the game diligently and patiently, mixing long, angled kicks by Sexton and Paddy Wallace to play territory, and patiently probing and retaining possession in the right areas of the field. It was smart, intelligent rugby.

After Sexton and McAlister traded penalties, Wallace and Duffy carried hard in midfield, Murphy hit the line well and the backrow worked their socks off in ensuring the recycles were up to speed and the Maoris began to impinge with abandon.

After four penalties in a row by Sexton, Liam Messam blatantly came in from the side in the last play of the half. Chris Henry made polite inquiries to Lawrence before Sexton ended the half with a penalty close to the touchline to bring the sides level.

Within 45 seconds of the restart Ireland had made the championship minutes tell even more. Having reclaimed the kick-off, Ed O’Donoghue took the ball up the middle and Wallace delayed his pass neatly to Murphy, who stepped through and passed off the deck for Wallace to finish strongly. Sexton converted, but soft penalties kept affording McAlister the chance to bring the Maoris back into the game as Ireland began to lose their way; Wallace kicked out on the full from a poor Eoin Reddan pass.

McAlister landed one from three to make it 25-21 to Ireland, before Murphy found touch deep in the 22 with a cleverly angled kick off the outside of his boot.

Robbie Robinson took a quick throw-in infield, and two more passes released winger Sean Maitland up the opposite wing. Ireland weren’t as organised as they might have been, Dan Tuohy missed a big hit and John Hayes was exposed, the ball was recycled and moved back to the left touchline for Karl Lowe to score.

Sexton levelled from half-way, before Ruki Tipuna restored the Maoris’ lead.

After Sexton had his first miss of the night, Lowe’s final act of thievery effectively denied Ireland their last chance.

SCORING SEQUENCE:2 mins: McAlister pen 3-0; 5: Gear try 8-0; 13: Sweeney try, McAlister con 15-0; 17: Sexton pen 15-3; 19: McAlister pen 18-3; 27: Sexton pen 18-6; 30: Sexton pen 18-9; 33: Sexton pen 18-12; 36: Sexton pen 18-15; 40 (+1 min): Sexton pen 18-18; (half-time 18-18); 41: P Wallace try, Sexton con 18-25; 49: McAlister pen 21-25; 65: Lowe try, Ripia con 28-25; 67: Sexton pen 28-28; 73: Ripia pen 31-28.

NEW ZEALAND MAORI:R Robinson (Southland); S Maitland (Canterbury), D Sweeney (Waikato), L McAlister (North Harbour), H Gear (Wellington); S Brett (Canterbury), A Smith (Manawatu); B Murray (Northland), C Flynn (Canterbury), B Afeaki (North Harbour), H Triggs (Otago), J Hoeata (Taranaki), L Messam (Waikato, capt), T Latimer (Bay of Plenty), C Bourke (Bay of Plenty). Replacements:D Coles (Wellington) for Flynn, K Lowe (Hawke's Bay) for Latimer (both 54 mins), R Tipuna (Wellington) for Smith (59 mins), W Ripia (Taranaki) for Brett (63 mins), R Graham (Waikato) for Hoeata (67 mins), C Newlands (Hawke's Bay) for Murray (71 mins).

IRELAND:G Murphy (Leicester, capt); S Horgan (Leinster), G Duffy, (Connacht), P Wallace (Ulster), J Murphy (Leicester); J Sexton (Leinster), E Reddan (Leinster); M Horan (Munster), J Fogarty (Leinster), T Court (Ulster), E O'Donoghue (Ulster), D Tuohy (Ulster), R Ruddock (Leinster), N Ronan (Munster), C Henry (Ulster). Replacements:J Hayes (Munster) for Court (half-time), D Varley (Munster), for Fogarty (61 mins), P Stringer (Munster) for Reddan (63 mins), D O'Callaghan (Munster) for Tuohy (65 mins), D Wallace (Munster) for Henry (69 mins), R Kearney (Leinster) for J Murphy (54-56 mins) and for Horgan (73 mins). Not used:O'Gara (Munster).

Referee:Mark Lawrence (South Africa).