With conditions less than optimal the game got off to a blistering with both sides looking to get stuck in early. First blood went to the Maori as Willie Ripia made the most of his first penalty kick after a Canadian offside. Romana Graham was harshly sent to the bin for a fairly harmless high tackle, and it looked like Canada would get a chance to get back into it, but instead unforced errors handed possession back to the Maori and they gift-wrapped six points via Ripia’s boot with still fourteen men on the pitch.
The men in red appeared to regain some confidence as first Connor Braid and then Tyler Ardron made clean breaks and nearly found their way to the tryline, but again little mistakes at the final moment and perhaps just a lack of patience prevented them from capitalising. After James Pritchard managed to scrape a penalty from the field position, a missed tackle by Braid allowed Andre Taylor to break free and waltz his way under the posts. Ripia added the conversion and a penalty as Pritchard kicked two for Canada to make it a ten point gap at the interval.
As the temperature dropped and the steam billowed off the breakdowns, the second half saw a loss of dynamism as the game slipped into a mire of penalties and average-at-best kicking. Pritchard scored a penalty but Ripia replied with two as the Maori began to pull away. A bit of misfortune for Canada as Pritchard’s quick tap and chip ahead looked to have given Taylor Paris a try, but they were nonetheless awarded a five metre attacking scrum. After captain Aaron Carpenter couldn’t quite make the line on the pick, replacement hooker Ray Barkwill burrowed over from close range to bring his side back to within a score.
Unfortunately the effort had sapped whatever energy was left in the Canadian side and the greater fuel efficient Maori led to Charlie Ngatai’s try in the corner on full time. It wasn’t the most exciting of contests but Canada will feel as though they missed a real opportunity for an upset against a pretty ordinary Maori team. At this level passion and athleticism is not enough to win, you also need to be accurate, and Kieran Crowley will no doubt be conveying this message in his post-match debriefing. Still the play of many of the youngsters, particularly Ardron, was positive and they will take some pride from knowing they competed favourably in many areas against full time professional players.
SCORING
02 mins – Willie Ripia pen 0-3
11 mins – Willie Ripia pen 0-6
14 mins – Willie Ripia pen 0-9
25 mins – James Pritchard pen 3-9
26 mins – Andre Taylor try 3-14
27 mins – Willie Ripia con 3-16
29 mins – James Pritchard pen 6-16
33 mins – Willie Ripia pen 6-19
40 mins – James Pritchard pen 9-19
46 mins – James Pritchard pen 12-19
50 mins – Willie Ripia pen 12-22
58 mins – Willie Ripia pen 12-25
72 mins – Ray Barkwill try 17-25
73 mins – Connor Braid con 19-25
80 mins – Charlie Ngatai try 19-30
80 mins – Willie Ripia con 19-32
CARDS
06 mins – Romana Graham yellow (high tackle)
52 mins – Tim Bateman yellow (dangerous tackle)
CANADA
James Pritchard (Nathan Hirayama 73); Jeff Hassler, Ciaran Hearn (Sean Duke 79), Phil Mackenzie, Taylor Paris; Connor Braid, Phil Mack; Hubert Buydens, Ryan Hamilton (Ray Barkwill 43), Andrew Tiedemann (Doug Wooldridge 73); Jebb Sinclair, Tyler Hotson (Brett Beukeboom 59); Tyler Ardron, Chauncey O’Toole (John Moonlight 59), Aaron Carpenter (capt.).
NZ MAORI
Trent Renata; Kurt Baker, Charlie Ngatai, Tim Bateman, Andre Taylor (Jackson Willison 73); Willie Ripia, Frae Wilson (Jamison Gibson-Park 58); Bronson Murray (Ben Afeaki HT), Quentin MacDonald (Hika Elliot 50), Ben May (Jacob Ellison 58); Jason Eaton (Jarrad Hoeata 50), Romana Graham; Shane Christie, Tanerau Latimer (capt.), Elliot Dixon (Nick Crosswell 59).
