Jonah Lowe's try double - and a brace of penalty tries from referee Mike Fraser - have propelled the Māori All Blacks to a convincing 38-21 win over Manu Samoa at Auckland's Mt Smart Stadium.
In their final dress rehearsal before a World Cup qualifying series against Tonga, the Samoans were twice reduced to 14 men, after infringements near the tryline, severely limiting their ability to make the encounter more of a contest.
The Māori All Blacks took a quarter of the game to finally open the scoring, winning a lineout near the Samoan goal-line and rumbling over, with skipper Ash Dixon the predictable beneficiary.
But from the kickoff, first-five Rodney Iona split the defence, with winger Neria Fomai providing the exclamation mark for Samoa.
Lowe put his side ahead again, after they dominated a close-range scrum, but when Reed Prinsep could not ground the ball from another lineout drive in the shadow of halftime, referee Mike Fraser awarded a penalty try for a collapsed maul.
Behind 19-7 at the break and a man down, Samoa began the second half with renewed commitment and scored first through fullback Ahsee Tuala to set the Maori on the back foot.
The hosts struck back, when another lineout maul fell short and halfback Bryn Hall threw a bullet pass to winger Shaun Wainui, who scored untouched in the corner.
Lowe extended the lead, when he capped 15 phases of continuity with his second try and was deprived a third, when the ball was knocked out of his grasp in his dive. Instead, Fraser awarded another penalty try and sent Genesis Mamea Lemalu to the bin.
The Māori were unable to take full toll of their advantage and when Lemalu returned, Samoa had the last laugh, with Kalolo Tuiloma driven over for a try by his forward pack on fulltime.
The performance provided a fitting farewell to Māori first-five Otere Black, who now leaves to take up a two-year contract in Japan.
Māori All Blacks 38 (Lowe 2, Wainui, Dixon tries; 2 penalty tries; Black conversion; Ioane conversion) Manu Samoa 21 (Fomai, Alosio & Tuiloma tries; Taefu 3 conversions)
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