ANDY FARRELL has admitted that the Maori All Blacks deserved the 32-17 win over Ireland this morning but admitted that Ireland will learn from the defeat.
Ireland started the game with five uncapped players in what was mostly a learning exercise for the young Ireland side.
The Maori scored four tries to Ireland's two in a game that resulted in a number of injuries to Ireland's players.
Ireland's next game will be against New Zealand on 2 July in Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.
'Disappointed' Andy Farrell says loss won't affect New Zealand preparations https://t.co/iSgfNHHDeA
— Irish Examiner Sport (@ExaminerSport) June 29, 2022
Reflecting on the game, Farrell said: "They thoroughly deserved the win."
"It was a tale of two halves, I think discipline was an issue for us, we sorted it a little bit out at half-time and played some really good stuff in the second half and left two or three tries out there we should have done better with.
"We're disappointed, we know it was a big week for the Maori boys, but it was a big week for some of our guys playing for Ireland for the first time, and the lessons learned will be brilliant going forward. Some of our lads have tasted it for the first time and will get another crack in a couple of weeks' time.
Captain Bundee Aki, one of Ireland's try scorers also said that Ireland's young fledglings will learn lessons from the mauling.
"Fair play to the Maori All Blacks boys, they came out firing. They were playing on top of us from the get-go, we couldn't get our game going, and they deservedly won that game today
"We got a lot of learnings out of this game, a lot of new boys here, a lot of young guys and we'll certainly learn from this game and try and build for the rest of the series. The Maori All Blacks were always a better team," Aki added.
