I ARRIVED in Wellington with the Irish team on Monday morning to be greeted by gale force winds and torrential rain.

TOBY FLOOD has urged his England teammates to start taking responsibility for their actions off the field and pull together on it to strengthen their bid for World Cup glory.

FRANCE No.8 Imanol Harinordoquy hopes Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final with England will mark the start of the tournament for Les Bleus.

NEW ZEALAND assistant coach Wayne Smith insists the belief in the All Blacks camp and in fly-half Colin Slade is high following Dan Carter’s World Cup-ending injury.

“NICE media facilities,” quips Shay Given as we seek shelter from a stiff sea breeze in the tiny groundsman’s hut at Gannon Park in Malahide.

JUST two days to go before Ireland kick their heels and turn into the final bend of their European Championship campaign and yet vast swathes of the sports pages are being dominated by events 12,000 miles away.

THE marketing blurb describes it as “the ultimate luxury gift book of 2011”.

INJURED All Blacks star Dan Carter spoke for the first time yesterday of the agonising pain he suffered when he ruptured his groin and the “gut wrenching” realisation that his Rugby World Cup was over.

DUAL nationalities and mixed loyalties are nothing new in international rugby where Pacific Islanders can play for England and an Australian lines out for Russia but spare a thought for the Ruddock family on Saturday.

SOUTH AFRICA’S Craig Joubert will take charge of Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final between Ireland and Wales in Wellington.

EVERYTHING they’ve done has been building towards this.

ANGER over Wales’s controversial try in last season’s Six Nations will not be a motivating factor for Ireland ahead of their World Cup quarter-final on Saturday, backs coach Alan Gaffney has insisted.

RORY BEST’S participation in the remainder of Ireland’s World Cup campaign remains in the balance after he was deemed a “serious doubt” by team manager Paul McNaughton for Saturday’s quarter-final against Wales.

IRELAND’S campervan army is on the move in New Zealand again this morning as rugby fans began heading back to the North Island for a World Cup quarter-final date with Wales this Saturday.

THEY’VE been labelled the “Irish foreign legion”, “the Celtic Convoy” and the “Green Army”, amongst other things, but one thing is certain — the Irish arrived on Kiwi shores to support Ireland in their droves.

THROUGHOUT the year Carrigtwohill have been confounding expectations, so why should yesterday be different?

FURIOUS and frustrated in equal measure, Martin Johnson has been forced to reprimand three players as he battles to keep England’s Rugby World Cup campaign on course.

JAMIE HEASLIP helped his side into a World Cup quarter-final next week against old rivals Wales and said Ireland would be looking for payback for a controversial Six Nations defeat at the Millennium Stadium last March.

IRELAND flanker Sean O’Brien declared the job was only half done after reaching the quarter-finals of the World Cup.

SAMIR NASRI’S penalty took France to Euro 2012 after a tense evening against Bosnia & Herzegovina last night.