Ain’t no mountain high enough

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.

After a 35-hour journey via London, Dubai and Sydney, the team touched down 40 minutes ahead of schedule in a chilly Queenstown yesterday afternoon greeted by a 300-strong crowd of wellwishers — a noisy mix of civic dignitaries, Maori in traditional dress, local schoolchildren waving tricolours and cheering expatriates.

The welcome appeared to banish memories of a testing month for Declan Kidney’s World Cup preparations marked by four Test defeats in August warm-ups and the loss of Felix Jones and David Wallace to injury.