New Zealand Maori 37 Barbarians 31
If this match was intended to give the All Black selectors a decent gauge on who might be contesting a place in the Tri-Nations squad, it provided few ideas.
It was a hazy display from both sides at Toll Stadium yesterday. There were moments of brilliance and counter-attacking flow -
clouded by countless scrappy scrums, errors on attack and gaping holes on defence.
The only real international note to the match was the national anthem at the start.
The redeeming feature was that at least it was close. The 8,500 in the crowd left with some decent theatre to debate into the evening.
That was highlighted by the try of the match from the Maori in the 73rd minute. Hayden Triggs finished a move which started on halfway on the other side of the field and went effortlessly through at least a dozen set of hands to score in the opposite corner.
Those hoping to see a fiery forward confrontation would have been disappointed. The scrums were constantly reset - the first half dozen were a shambles - and the battle for ascendancy was left largely unresolved between the two front rows.
Barbarians loosehead prop Jamie Mackintosh bored in on Clint Newland at times, possibly to try to take some pressure off new hooker John Afoa but referee Josh Noonan was forced to respond with his arm out and his elbow cocked countless times as scrum problems continued.
However, there was free and fancy play, as expected from a Barbarians fixture. However it is hard to imagine this amount of looseness being beneficial to the Maori over the next couple of weeks against Ireland and England. Coach Jamie Joseph has plenty of work to do.
The space saw the loose forwards prosper, with some scything runs from Barbarians number eight Peter Saili and skipper Alando Soakai while blindside flanker Jarrad Hoeata and Maori skipper Liam Messam contributed similarly for the Maori.
A rare outing as a starting first-five saw Colin Slade show plenty of composure and maybe etched his name a little more strongly in the selectors' notebooks should anything happen to either Dan Carter or Aaron Cruden.
He punted effortlessly with his right boot and scored a visionary chip-and-chase try after using his left foot. The Maori had left a defensive hole at the back with 15 minutes to go and Slade spotted it well and made them pay.
He also had success gliding regularly into the line such as when he set up Ben Smith in the fourth minute during the All Black's rare appearance at second five.
Stephen Brett also showed touches of class in the 10 jersey but was erratic. One minute he was setting up space for his outside backs with perfectly timed passes. The next he was pushing directionless kicks into the hands of venomous attackers like Fetu'u Vainikolo or was unable to thread a grubber through the Barbarians line on attack.
The selectors might have been cheered with a reasonably solid game from previously out of form Luke McAlister while Rene Ranger had a powerful game for the Barbarians at centre.
He shaped nicely into gaps and had the ability to pass in the tackle - whether setting up Vainikolo on the outside or rolling the ball along the ground to Mackintosh to pick up and take across in the fourth minute of second half.
He also strongly bumped off Robbie Robinson. The potential winning of the game slipped out of his hands with nine minutes left - just another error in a night strewn with them.
New Zealand Maori 37 (S. Brett, L. Messam, R. Robinson, H. Triggs, H. Gear tries; L. McAlister 3 con, 2 pen), New Zealand Barbarians 31 (P. Saili, B. Smith, J. Mackintosh, C. Slade tries, Slade 4 con, pen)
