Cape Town - Controversial yellow cards and repeat doses of argy-bargy is what many will remember in the aftermath of the New Zealand Maoris' ill-tempered 19-15 loss to the French Barbarians on Friday.
According to the Stuff website, having thrashed Canada 51-9 in Vancouver the previous weekend, the Maori, even when taking the jetlag and travel into account, would have fancied their chances of a victory in front of 30 000 vocal French fans at Stade Chaban-Delmas.
Instead the encounter, which involved multiple incidents involving of
both sets of forwards engaging in the dare-you-to-throw-the-first-punch
ritual, made for a tough watch until Japanese referee Shuhei Kubo livened
things up in the final quarter with a couple of harsh cards.
Scorers:
French Barbarians
Tries: Baptiste Chouzenoux, Adrien Pelissie
Penalties: Romain N'tamack (2), Thomas Ramos
New Zealand Maori
Tries: Sean Wainui, penalty try
Penalty: Jackson Garden-Bachop