Putting a bit of fun first

IF IRELAND captain Brian O’Driscoll was “blown away” by the welcome he and his squad received on their arrival in Queenstown on Thursday, one can only imagine the reaction to both the town and surrounding scenery as they made their way towards their Rugby World Cup base camp by the shores of Lake Wakatipu.

The airport reception, as some 300 people, an eclectic mix of boisterous Irish expats, excited local schoolchildren, civic dignitaries and ceremonial Maori, welcomed Declan Kidney’s squad to NZ’s South Island, had been reciprocated by an equally enthusiastic group of players and management who went way beyond what was expected of them following an arduous 35-hour plus journey from Dublin.

Ireland’s arrival in this resort town set among the dramatic, snow-capped Remarkables mountain range, is a really big deal to the locals, as will be the presence of the Georgia, England and Romania squads later in the month. Queenstown will not be hosting any World Cup matches but they were still able to attract four teams to come and stay here during the biggest event in New Zealand’s history.

The arrival ceremony had been 18 months in the planning and there was a certain trepidation that the homespun welcome — a traditional Maori Powhiri and haka, busloads of school-kids armed with Irish tricolours and handmade banners — would be greeted by a less than interested bunch of tired and unimpressed professional athletes from the other side of the world who would traipse nonchalantly through the fuss and straight onto their team bus. How misplaced those fears were.

The players seemed touched and delighted by the scene that greeted them as they emerged from the terminal building and the grins on their faces could not have been manufactured. They responded warmly to the ceremonials by offering a Christy Moore song, Ride On, in exchange and while the execution would not have got them through an X Factor audition it was heartfelt and sincere, as was the considerable time spent afterwards posing for photos and signing autographs until they were shepherded by team officials away from the fans and onto the bus about an hour later.

The warmth of the people was matched by the scenery as the Irish players settled into their lakeside hotel in Queenstown’s central business district. And as Kidney, captain Brian O’Driscoll and team manager Paul McNaughton conducted their first press conference in New Zealand yesterday afternoon, with the glistening blue lake and the towering mountains behind them, their words of satisfaction at this choice of training base were backed up by some pretty convincing visual evidence.

And so too the Queenstown Events Centre, where Ireland will train during their seven-night stay, as O’Driscoll explained when asked about the team’s training facilities by a New Zealand journalist.

“The track we’re playing on, the backdrop is not something you would see too often,” O’Driscoll said. “It’s pretty spectacular. The facilities are fantastic too, everything you would hope for. The pitches are in great nick, it’s fantastic and exactly what you’re looking for to get your preparations right for the biggest stage. You hope for the best conditions and facilities and we’ve certainly got that.”

Spoken like a true professional in search of brownie points from the locals, but you believed every word. Another Kiwi journo asked if the town and its myriad activities such as jet boating down the Shotover river, skiing and bungy jumping would be off limits to the Ireland players. “It would be an awful pity to come to Queenstown and not see any of it, wouldn’t it?” replied Kidney. “No, we won’t be having any lockdown.”

McNaughton went even further, adding: “We have a couple of down days and the guys are already looking forward to those and asking about the Shotover and various other activities. So the guys want to go out and they want to meet locals, have a drink, go out and have a good time on their down days and sampling a lot of the activities that are out there.”

There are some things, though, that will be off limits, including, much to Jamie Heaslip’s annoyance.

“It’s an unbelievable spot,” he said. “Just looking out the hotel window and seeing the views, it’s pretty impressive. It’s cool, I like it. The internet’s a little slow so that’s hampered my Twitter, but it’s a great spot. I’m just raging we’re here to play rugby, that we can’t go snowboarding or something like that.”

Only in a place like Queenstown, it seems, could a Rugby World Cup actually get in the way of a bit of fun.