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.

The business of preparing for an opening Pool C fixture against the United States in New Plymouth on Sunday, September 11, was due to begin today with a light training session at the Queenstown Events Centre for the 28 members of Kidney’s 30-man squad.

The two who remained at home due to injury, loosehead prop Cian Healy and centre Gordon D’Arcy, will depart today or tomorrow, possibly travelling together depending on their respective medical issues. Healy was kept back for treatment to an injured eye socket in the bruising final warm-up Test against England last Saturday while D’Arcy was nursing a calf strain suffered in training on Tuesday.

Those that did travel as scheduled were treated to quite a welcome in Queenstown as they completed the final leg of their marathon journey to New Zealand, a three-hour Air New Zealand flight from Sydney.

Understandably looking tired, the players, led by captain Brian O’Driscoll and vice-captain Paul O’Connell were nevertheless all smiles as they emerged from the airport terminal building to loud cheers, signing autographs before being afforded the traditional Maori welcome ceremony, a Powhiri, followed by a speech from Queenstown’s mayor Vanessa van Uden and a haka.

O’Driscoll then took the microphone and gave the official Irish response as the local schoolchildren waved Irish flags and class-made banners in support of the visitors. There was a slight gaffe from the captain as he referred to the people of “Queensland” before quickly rectifying his mistake.

“Can I just say how blown away we all are by this incredible welcome from the people of Queenstown and the loads of Paddies here as well,” O’Driscoll said.

“We’re delighted to finally be here, it’s been a huge build up for us... particularly over pre-season and there’s been some tough calls and some very good players left behind. But this is the squad and we’re here to compete at this World Cup and do our very best for Ireland and hopefully go all the way.”

O’Driscoll further won over the Queenstown public by responding to the welcome given his team and leading the players in a rendition of Christy Moore’s “Ride On”, their efforts assisted by some strong vocal support from the Irish fans present.

Those fans, part of a sizeable Irish contingent of ex-pats living in Queenstown, were, however, put on notice yesterday of the threat of blanket bans from the resort’s bars should there be any trouble in the town during the tournament.

The Queenstown Lakes District Council has launched a “Bar Safe” initiative to alert 22 pubs and bars in the scheme to any trouble. Patrons ejected from one of the bars will be refused entry to the others.

“We’re not a party town,” Mayor van Uden said, “that’s not how we sell ourselves. We don’t need that perception out there in the wider world and we need to be dealing with it.”

New Zealand is planning for an influx of thousands of ex-pat Irish fans from Australia and an estimated 10,000 of them, including some 1,500 from Ireland, are expected at their country’s four Pool C games around the country.

After facing the USA, Kidney’s team meet Australia at Auckland’s Eden Park on September 17, Russia in Rotorua on September 25 and Italy in Dunedin on October 2. That final group game against the Italians has already seen 22,000 tickets sold and organisers are confident of selling the remaining 4,000 tickets to ensure a sell-out at the new Otago Stadium.