Te Pou pays England ultimate compliment

New Zealand Maori rugby coach Matt Te Pou paid England the ultimate compliment after they bulldozed his side 23-9 in New Plymouth.

"In the time I've had the New Zealand Maori side, that's probably the strongest team that I've been up against. Definitely the most ruthless," Te Pou said.

His words will reverberate to Wellington and into the All Blacks' camp ahead of Saturday's test at Westpac Stadium

There can be no doubt England's top team will provide the All Blacks with a massive challenge after their second-string side out-thought and totally outplayed a good Maori outfit in cold, damp conditions.

In a match far removed from the last time the teams met - won 62-14 by the Maori in Rotorua five years ago - the England forwards stamped their authority from the opening whistle and never let up.

They won the second-phase count three-to-one and it was surprising they managed only two tries, through outstanding lock Simon Shaw and replacement halfback Andy Gomarsall, while first five-eighths Paul Grayson kicked 13 points.

England coach Clive Woodward was delighted with how his team "strangled" their opponents up front and was particularly happy with their defence.

"Down in their red zone [on attack] we made a few errors. We could have probably killed it off a little earlier," he said.

"The big thing for me is that they didn't score [a try]. We talked about that coming into the game and it's a testament to how our guys defended."

Woodward was pleased to use his entire reserve bench and said none of his players let him down.

Te Pou, who was the New Zealand Maori assistant coach in 1994 and has been coach since 1995, said his players had never confronted such a well-drilled opposition.

He believed England were more capable than the Wallaby teams to whom the Maori side have narrowly lost across the Tasman twice in the past two seasons.

"While Australia were good, they certainly weren't as hungry as what we came up against [in New Plymouth]. They [England] were a far better team," Te Pou said.

"They were very good at set pieces and when it came to ruck and maul, they just drove all night.

"We weren't getting good ball so when we did get it we tried to move it when we should have been more patient. The stats at halftime were against us so at that stage we thought we could start again. But the stats were the same in the second half as well."

The home side trailed 6-10 after playing with a decent first-half breeze at their back.

Their handling was poor for most of the match, meaning they struggled to mount any consistent pressure.

"[Halfback] David Gibson found it very difficult to clear that ball and it caused a chain reaction through our inside backs, hence the reason we dropped the ball," he said. "It was just the pressure we were under."

Captain Taine Randell, who recently spoke of his fading chances of wearing an All Black jersey again, would not comment on speculation that the match would be his swansong for the New Zealand Maori.

"A wee bit's been made about my future but I'm undecided at this stage," Randell said.


- NZPA