NZ Maori v Ireland
Rotorua, 7.35pm tomorrow
Maori hooker Corey Flynn is talking in the kind of voice that is normally associated with a lifetime of cigarettes and bourbon, but the explanation is entirely innocent.
"My voice was just coming back after our haka sessions, but that goal blew that out of the water," Flynn said of a late night watching another code do the improbable in South Africa. "I'm back to the husky voice. It was great to see them come back for the draw. They looked down and out. Winston Reid - that's fantastic, over the moon about that."
Winston Wiremu Reid to be exact, who, along with Jeremy Christie, Rory Fallon and Leo Bertos, is adding a bit of Maori mana to the All Whites. Should the Irish get tipped over tomorrow night it will cap a boom week for Maori sport.
The Maori have made five changes to the team that beat the Barbarians in Whangarei with a last-minute try.
Prop Ben Afeaki, lock Hayden Triggs, centre Dwayne Sweeney, halfback Aaron Smith and Bay of Plenty No 8 Colin Bourke have all moved off the bench and into the starting line-up. Flanker Karl Lowe, first-five Willie Ripia and Wellington halfback Ruki Tipuna will look to earn debut caps from the bench.
It is the inclusion of North Harbour's Afeaki at tighthead that could be the most pivotal. The Maori scrum struggled against the makeshift Barbarians and coach Jamie Joseph has paid particular attention to the set piece this week.
"The match against the New Zealand Barbarians was definitely a good test for us and we came out of that game with areas we know we need to work on and that has been our focus this week," Joseph said.
To that end, the cavalry was called for.
"We got a couple of the Bay of Plenty boys down and had some live scrums against them," Flynn said. "We've [got] Afeaki coming into the side and the Irish are known for a big scrum, so watch this space."
Flynn, who is returning to full match fitness after another injury-disrupted year, felt some of last week's issues were the result of Jamie Mackintosh getting a jump on both the Maori and the referee.
"Fair play to him," Flynn said. "That's rugby, we've got to deal better with it."
The scrum is not the only set-piece to undergo change.
Tomorrow the lineout calls will be made in te reo. For some, that has meant a crash course.
"There has been a little bit of study happening," Flynn said. Ireland might be of a mind to counter in Gaelic, but they've probably got bigger herring to fry after their galling carve-up in New Plymouth. Coach Declan Kidney has named an experimental line-up, but one with plenty of motivation.
This is a real opportunity for the perceived "second-stringers" to push test claims ahead of their clash with Australia in Brisbane next week. Experienced fullback Geordan Murphy will captain Ireland for the first time.
NZ MAORI v IRELAND
NZ Maori
Robbie Robinson
Sean Maitland
D. Sweeney
Luke McAlister
Hosea Gear
Stephen Brett
Aaron Smith
Colin Bourke
Tanerau Latimer
Liam Messam (c)
Jarrad Hoeata
Hayden Triggs
Ben Afeaki
Corey Flynn
Bronson Murray
Ireland
G. Murphy
Shane Horgan
Gavin Duffy
Paddy Wallace
Johne Murphy
J. Sexton
Eoin Reddan
Chris Henry
Niall Ronan
Rhys Ruddock
Dan Tuohy
Ed O'Donoghue
Tom Court
John Fogarty
Marcus Horan
Maori reserves: Dane Coles, Clint Newland, Romana Graham, Karl Lowe, Ruki Tipuna, Willie Ripia, Jackson Willison.
Ireland reserves: Sean Cronin, John Hayes, Donncha O'Callaghan, David Wallace, Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara, Rob Kearney.
