THE NEW Irish broom wants to sweep away all talk of moral wins and satisfaction in defeat. Yet, for the handful of Irish in a postcard Pacific island setting at Apia Park on Saturday, you'd want to have had a hard heart indeed not to acknowledge the merits of this display.

Sure, there was pride and passion, and some of the defending in keeping out three relentless passages of Samoan pressure was truly heroic, as was the sheer effort and stamina required in sweltering heat.

Yet it was much more than that, and for an hour it was little short of a remarkable Irish performance, highlighted by their own sustained passages of intelligent and creative modern rugby as never played by an Irish side abroad before.

The last 20 minutes were irritating, and in terms of the score line spoilt much of what had gone before. What happened in that final quarter - three of the four Samoan tries came from Irish turn-overs inside the home 22 - showed just how good Bryan Williams' gifted side are, and re-affirmed how much pace they have throughout their team and how the game has changed irreparably.

It's extraordinary to think that one of those territorial graphs would probably show pretty much an even blue/green split. Sensibly adapting to the conditions, the Irish did not seek to reproduce Brian Ashton's vision of total rugby from within their own 22, opting instead to play their rugby from further afield and with more of an emphasis on set-pieces.

They were helped by some occasional and untypically poor ball-handling by the Samoans, by an off-colour display by the blonde-rinsed Earl Va'a at outside-half, and by the Samoans' surprising willingness to kick to touch or for goal.

The Irish controlled the ball well, and earned most of the early throw-ins and put-ins and the welcome breathers that came with them and the penalties at goal. The scrum was solid, and the lineout excellent; Malcolm O'Keely's airborne athleticism yielded a big haul from the middle of the line.

Indeed, all over Apia Park, the gifted O'Kelly and the enduringly excellent Gabriel Fulcher ensured for the seventh time on tour that the second-row was as good as or superior to the opposition's.

The pack in general did well. Kieron Dawson and David Erskine made their tackles and took on a host of ball, while the instinctive support play of David Wallace was a major factor in two of the Irish tries. Even the renowned back-row link play of Pat Lam, Isaac Feaunati and Junior Paramore was generally confined to brilliant moments rather than sustained dominance.

Nor did the Irish backs play badly as such, though almost every error was punished. Brian O'Meara's service to Richard Governey was not its normally crisp sell, and he was replaced by Stephen McIvor at half-time. McIvor again made his presence felt, and provided an extra running threat - though his squirted pass off mis-controlled scrum ball which led to one of the turnovers late on may have angered Ashton.

Governey had adhesive hands all the same, and varied his game skillfully - he's ready for a real stint at outside-half for club, province and maybe even country. However, two under-hit restarts and one missed tackle were again ruthlessly punished.

Rob Henderson has had better games on tour, and perhaps was suffering the effects of the heaviest workload. He made a big early break which promised more than was delivered, though he was hit by an unpunished high tackle soon after. But his tackling and his handling have been better. Still, he's one for the elite squad.

Mick Lynch justified his recall. His footballing abilities added to the midfield and he was within a whisker of a try late on. Until So'oalo cut loose near the end, the wings defended well, particularly against Tuigamala. Kevin Maggs again laid down his marker with some strong running.

Conor O'Shea has had better games on tour. He had been hitting the line well again and tackling strongly, before he injured a knee in a big hit on Silao Leaega The injury surely contributed to two knock-ons and one of those breakaway tries from an intercepted pass.

On the kick-off, Va'a fumbled and the Irish pegged the Samoans back with a sequence of rucks. Following some good recycling of the ball, O'Shea put a deft kick into the corner. From the resultant Fulcher take, the Irish rumbled forward and Erskine scored.

The response to a Va'a penalty was even better. O'Meara skipped Dawson going blind from a scrum inside half-way, O'Shea put Bishop away, took the return pass and Wallace made up a ton of ground before providing the link for Fulcher to race under the posts.

Many of the boisterous crowd had assembled hours before kick-off. Ringed by palm trees and coconut trees, set off by the rich tier of green jungle beyond, they sheltered from the boiling afternoon sun under umbrellas. Kodak moments and me with no camera.

Opposite the main stand were assembled the yahoos" - clearly they're an international phenomenon - and frequently some of them would be led away, perhaps after imbibing too much of the local cava, a diluted, relaxing drink

Fits of laughter broke out regularly from around the ground, either at private jokes, one old, inebriated Manu war dancer, or the big hits, Irish mistakes or Inga Tuigamala rumbling through some pole-axed opponent.

They pined for a try from the great man, but generally he was well shackled - as they did with Norman Berryman, these Irish have learnt how to target the big men.

Instead, it was the array of speed merchants who profited from the bulldozing forward drives; the flanker Junior Paramore, the scrum-half Joe Filemu, and quicksilver Canterbury Crusaders' right-winger Afato So'oalo.

But they came from pretty much everywhere. The Irish defied them inordinately, until four minutes before the break when O'Shea's relieving clearance to touch perhaps induced a false sense of security or lapse in concentration; first Terry Fanolua, and then Va'a, carved through the midfield defence for tries by Feaunati and Filemu as the stifling climate took its toll.

Regrouping at the break, and benefitting from a little breeze, the Irish came again. Governey landed a penalty and kicked long to the corner after Erskine tidied up in open play. McIvor gathered Leaga's sliced clearance and attacked; Dawson took it on some more before Henderson's half-break and Wallace's link play enabled O'Kelly to take two opponents over the line for a superb try and an unlikely 25-22 lead.

Even when they kept the loose forwards and backs at bay, the Irish were opened up by the locks. Sene Ta'ala eluded tackles by Gavin Walsh and Henderson to send Potu Leavasa over. Then came the breakaways.

At full health, O'Shea would surely have completed the blind-side break for his fourth try of the tour. Instead, Paramore intercepted his inside pass and set off on an 80-metre sprint. O'Kelly was actually about to haul him down when Paramore off-loaded inside to Filemu.

Va'a again exposed a midfield gap for Leaega to score, before a miscontrolled scrum and Henderson's shoulder high spill off McIvor's pass saw So'oalo sprint clear.

To compound this, the Irish pack were unable to release the ball from a lineout cum rolling maul, then shoved the Samoan scrum over the line only for: Feaunati to pick up and send So'oalo scorching away again.

As with the tour overall, it got progressively better, but it could have been better still.

Tour skipper Andy Nicol will lead a strong Scokland side in the first match of their six-game tour of southern Africa tomorrow against Zimbabwe in Harare.

In all the Scots will field eight capped players as they seek to get off to a winning start.

Scotland manager Doug Morgan said: "We want to start the tour with a win. I feel that this side is capable of doing just that."

The Scots experienced the difficulties of training at altitude and hot mid-day temperatures at the Harare Sports Club Ground yesterday.

These twin factors could affect the Scots in the later stages of their game against Zimbabwe and so Morgan has laid contingency plans.

"It is likely we will make use of substitutions in the game, but we will have to ensure that if we do so, we are well ahead," he said.