THE smiles returned to Ireland’s players yesterday as a difficult pre-season campaign was forgotten amid an enthusiastic welcome to their Rugby World Cup base on New Zealand’s South Island.

IRFU chiefs yesterday rejected claims the national squad are snubbing events organised by their New Zealand hosts at the Rugby World Cup next month.

Canadian-born country music star Shania Twain has won permission to build a mansion and other buildings on her New Zealand sheep farm, despite complaints the complex would not blend in with the landscape.