ALL IN THE SCRUM:A World Cup miscellany
AS WELL as the stadia, the World Cup will leave other legacies around New Zealand, such as the once rundown but now renovated Shed 10 on the Queens Wharf, which can host up to 1,800 people. The centrepiece of one of the Cup’s fanzones is the Heineken World Bar, which can be packed and shipped around the world – it arrived in Auckland after being at the Champions League in May.
One of its features is a drink-drive simulator, which looks like an arcade game. The only caveat, one imagines, is that it may only be used by sober people so as to show drivers how drinking impairs their judgments and reaction time on the road.
THREE OFthe four sections in yesterday's New Zealand Heraldwere dominated by the World Cup – the only exception was the business section. The first six pages of the main section were devoted entirely to the tournament, as was the sports section (nine pages). There was also a special 32-page supplement devoted exclusively to the All Blacks! No pressure then.
SEXTON’S FAMILY FLY IN
NONE OF Jonathan Sexton’s family were expected to travel to New Zealand but one of the perks for the Irish squad’s six Guinness ambassadors was they entered a draw to win a package for three people of their choosing for the opening two matches. Sexton’s name came out of the hat first and hence his mum Clare, sister Gillian and cousin Roy arrived in Auckland yesterday en route to New Plymouth for tomorrow’s opening game.
Alas Eddie Jones: Ireland were ‘rubbish’ in warm ups
SKY SPORTS in New Zealand, who are showing all 48 matches live, have taken over the second floor of the Event Centre in the trendy Viaduct in Auckland.
Amongst their pundits are two of the World Cup winning coaches from four years ago, Jake White and Eddie Jones, as well as Stuart Barnes and Miles Harrison, and former All Blacks lock Ian Jones.
Looking ahead to Pool C, Jones concurred with the view of Harrison and Barnes that Ireland’s “alarming” run of four successive defeats had revised their view of them as a serious threat to Australia, adding: “It was the way they lost. They played poorly, and if you lose the warm-up matches playing well or inter-changing players, or playing a B side and all the rest of it, maybe you can come with some confidence. But in a nutshell, they were rubbish in the four games.”
Harrison did counter by noting that they were rubbish by their own standards, “and there will be players in that group who believe that the can get back to those standards”.
Eagle is ready to land: High profile ‘secret visitor’ to attend Ireland pool game
THE USA Eagles and Ireland, in conjunction with tournament organisers, have agreed there will be a minute’s silence before Sunday’s game to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 atrocities. Both teams will also wear black armbands.
Due to time zones, New Plymouth will actually host the first memorial service around the world tomorrow, in St Andrew’s Church, to mark the anniversary. About 600 people (as well as US supporters, the United States Marine Corps Band, are staying in the same hotel as the Irish squad) are expected to attend, including the USA Eagles squad.
Along with Wellington-based American diplomats, a high profile “secret visitor” from the US is due to attend both the service and the match. It was striking to note how many police were patrolling downtown New Plymouth on Thursday night, even though the bars and restaurants were very quiet in advance of the expected weekend invasion, and the day that’s in it assuredly explains why security was also so tight at the Irish squad’s training yesterday.
ON ARRIVALin New Plymouth on Thursday following their charter flight from Queenstown, the Irish squad were treated to an official powhiri, Maori welcome, in the traditional house, or regional Parliament for the Maori people. An hour-and-a-half long, this was different from last Sunday's shortened Maori welcome in Queenstown's Skyline, which was combined with a civic welcome and the presentation of World Cup caps.
Once again, the squad's response was a version of Christy Moore's Ride On, with Denis Leamy again leading the way. "Yeah, they had their singing voices on," said Paul McNaughton, "and it was the same response. They sang it well."
