Gaffney confident despite injury setbacks

FOR a banged-up, beaten-down bunch supposed to be staring down a third defeat on the bounce, the mood in the Ireland camp yesterday was, like the winter sun that shone through Auckland: surprising.

Only positive vibes pulsed through the team hotel and later, after almost 30 hours of airplane cabin pressure was blown out of the system during a training session at Mt Smart, the collective enthusiasm seemed to be lifted further.

Shorn of almost a full team’s worth of regulars, those that remain standing have no intention of lying down to Saturday night’s vaunted hosts in New Plymouth.