Wonderful Wales send Ireland packing

WARREN Gatland put the Wellington boot into Ireland’s World Cup dreams here today as green dreams of the Webb Ellis Trophy went up in smoke.

The former Irish coach masterminded a tactically perfect eighty minutes as up to 12,000 Irish fans were left beaten and bewildered at the famed Cake Tin in New Zealand’s capital.

And for some of Ireland’s Grand Slam heroes of 2009, it was possibly a sad farewell to outstanding rugby careers as the Welsh ran out 22-10 victors. Acknowledging this, the Blarney Army rose in unison to salute the men in green who have given them so much to cheer about in the last decade.