ANOTHER DAY, another coach journey, another training session it could only be the Ireland Development tour of New Zealand.

The tour rumbled on two and a half miles north yesterday through winding, undulating pine forests to Whangamata before tomorrow's joust with Thames Valley. No rest for this lot, wicked or not.

Originally, it had been intended that the party would stay in Paeroa, the venue for tomorrow's game. However, this would have meant the squad being split into two separate motels, so for logistical reasons the tour's NZRFU liaison officer Don Schuker had the base changed 45 minutes further up the Coromandel Peninsula.

Whangamata is, essentially, a wide, one street town, hemmed in by pine forests with a population of 4,000. On a sleepy, sunny day, people strolled past shop fronts - the surf boards, diving gear and fishing rods betraying the area's main tourist attractions.

The very nature of Whangamata (pronounced Fhan-ga-mat-a) and the day itself afforded ample time to digest the lessons from Thursday's defeat to Bay of Plenty. That most unIrish of displays had seen a first 30 minutes undo a strong final 50. Usually it's the other way around.

The All Blacks' assistant coach and NZ Academy coach Ross Cooper came from his home in nearby Waihi to observe yesterday's training session. Over dinner later with Brian Ashton and Pat Whelan, Cooper will have passed on his thoughts, drawing comparisons with All Blacks' training spins, which are more preplanned, intense and shorter.

Cooper has also invited the Irish party to attend an All Blacks' training session next week in preparation for their forthcoming trial.

There's no doubt that somewhere along the way, wires were crossed. The rearrangements over the past year and the clumsily titled Ireland A/Development Squad, as it is officially known, led the New Zealanders to believe one thing and the Irish another.

Even though the Irish management have been a little taken aback by the strength of the opposition, the NZRFU were led to believe that this would be an Irish A side, and have billed the games accordingly, with Sky TV covering all seven games (five live) in full.

Hence, there's been criticism of the tour from both countries. The respected Kiwi rugby writer, Don Cameron, cited the Irish for providing under strength opposition. Back home, some have said it's a self defeating tour.

True, this may not be of much benefit to the Kiwis, but you have to delve beneath the results. The tour is about developing a new Irish playing pattern and Irish individuals of future international worth.

The six withdrawals and two departures haven't helped and with roughly 25 first line players not here for one reason or another, it merely underlines that Ireland do not have a pool of 60 international players. Never had.

Nearing the halfway point, amid the three defeats and the concession of 195 points and 29 tries (yikes!) there have been some plusses to set against the debit column.

"You must look at the situation in its overall context," maintains Whelan in the light of the three games so far. "We had a squad of 32 players. A lot of those players were an unknown quantity at this level. It's a further step along the road to figuring who's who and where they all stand.

"We needed two or three matches. Some are coming through and some are falling by the wayside and that's going to continue to happen right through to the end of the tour until eventually we end up with a hard core. We're only fooling ourselves if we think anything else."

The quadruple substitution after 27 minutes on Thursday hammered home the point. As Gary Halpin stated: "Brian has made it clear that if he sees individuals who are not trying to play the way he wants them to play, they will he pulled off."

The successes are standing out like a sore thumb. Ashton is reluctant to single out individuals but aside from the obvious ones, Rob Henderson arid David Erskine he did mention the "steel" given the team by Stephen McIvor. "Technically, he's got a lot to learn and he knows that." Even when on a roll, McIvor let slip a promising scoring position with a wayward pass, indicative as much of a lack of composure in the opposition 22 as a technically faulty pass. But he has a real presence.

Henderson and Erskine have been the one back and one forward to make inroads as ball carriers. The former is showing the midfield strength that made him the only English based Irish player to make it into Courage League Teams of the Season in three English Sunday newspapers.

Conor O'Shea, three tries already, has been Ireland's most potent runner, and the return of Malcolm O'Kelly's many qualities as a modern day lock after a long lay off is no surprise.

Brian Cusack was the one forward who stood out in the horrendous opening half hour against the Bay of Plenty and is yet another lock of the future. David Erskine, employed at lock, but truly menacing from the backrow, perhaps should be one of the past and present, as well as the future.

"David Erskine is a fantastic player," said Halpin almost awe struck, reflecting the high esteem in which the Sale backrow man is held amongst his fellow players.

However, Ashton conceded that: "We're still only talking about just a handful of players who've emerged as genuinely capable of playing at this level, but we've moved a lot further on after three games. You've seen the new style of play and you don't see rugby like that in the second half against Bay of Plenty at club level in Ireland. You don't see much at club level in England."

Therein lies the rub. Ashton and Whelan have outlined technical, tactical and fitness programmes to the provincial coaches and hope to work in harmony with them. The players themselves, having learnt more from this tour than years watching Kiwi and Super 12 rugby on television, will hopefully extend the gospel further. But how far can it go?

The makeup of the All Ireland League and general quality and style of play within it are major stumbling blocks.

The first division needs to be trimmed down, immediately, to six or eight clubs creating an elite and improving standards. Emulating the Super 12 in its points system (four for a win, two for a draw, and a bonus point for scoring four tries or losing by less than seven points) would be no harm either.

To this end, Whelan will present a report, based on his findings during this tour, to the IRFU upon the squad's return. How the union reacts will decide how meaningful the Ashton revolution will become.

In the meantime, there's a sense that this may be the beginnings of, something special - the pre development stage if you like. "I have never played in an Irish team who have kept the ball to hand so much," says Halpin.

"If Brian develops this type of play in Ireland we'll carve through teams . . . I feel I'm at the start of something good. I know the results haven't been going our way, but that in itself is a great driving force for me, thinking yeah, we're going to do something here and it's getting better'. When you consider the limited talent we have, we're doing a good job, I think."