Rugby hosts: Queenstown

Queenstown. Photo / Philippe Dierick

Southern welcome assured for Cup's 'lucky' Irishmen.

The luck of the Irish came through when host towns were allocated for the Rugby World Cup. Ireland start their tour with a week in Queenstown.

How they scored the jewel in New Zealand tourism's crown remains a mystery, because after tuning up in the Southern Lakes resort, the Irish go to the North Island for all but the last of their pool matches.

Team managers plan to arrive on August 31 and the next day the squad of 55 players, coaches and officials land at Queenstown Airport for an official powhiri led by Ngai Tahu.

The Arrowtown Irish community includes a Gaelic speaker or two who will respond in the ancient language.

The Lakes District's hosting manager for the cup, Jason "JD" Marrable, says the team have been offered the full range of the region's adventure attractions but the managers have indicated the players will not be bungy jumping, skiing or mountain biking in their week's build-up.

They are more likely to relax with golf on one of the district's three championship courses and take an invitation to sample Central Otago pinot at a Lake Hayes winery.

If they are looking for something familiar they will find a hurling club near Queenstown or the town's Irish pubs, such as Pog Mahon's, which has just won the Guinness pouring championship of New Zealand.

The English team, who come to Queenstown two weeks later, have a different attitude to the adventure attractions. Mr Marrable says manager Martin Johnson expects the players will go bungy jumping.

England will be half-way through their pool matches and Johnson intends to treat the Queenstown stop as rest and recreation.

Queenstown will also have Romania for four nights, and two other touring parties will be not far away: Scotland, who start their tour in Invercargill, and Georgia, who will be based in Dunedin.

Travelling wives, girlfriends and supporters of all the teams playing in the Deep South will find plenty to do.

Otago, Southland and the Lakes District have co-ordinated their preparations for the cup.

Bluff's annual oyster festival has been put off to September. The Queenstown jazz festival has been brought forward from Labour Weekend. The annual curling contest at Naseby and gold panning championships at Arrowtown will take place during the cup. A golden oldies match between the classic All Blacks and a French XV will be played the day after a Romania-Argentina clash in Invercargill.

The host organisation hopes to bring children from some of the Lake District's remote schools to events involving visiting players and supporters.

But Mr Marrable knows the teams will be trying to concentrate on training at Queenstown's glittering Events Centre near the edge of the lake under the Remarkables.