NEW ZEALAND LETTER: New Zealanders may never again have such an opportunity to showcase their country

YOU TRAVEL by Air New Zealand to “the four million stadium” and you know you’re going to be consumed by the World Cup experience almost as soon as you step on the plane at Heathrow. And again in Hong Kong and then, just to be sure, from Auckland to Christchurch, if not on the final propeller leg to Queenstown.

The slightly slapstick security video at the outset of each journey is a little different from the norm, featuring as it does an array of would-be rugby supporters from around the globe as well as a phalanx of All Blacks led by Graham Henry and Richie McCaw in the cockpit.

If any of the passengers dares to smoke, warns Henry, no doubt reprising his earlier incarnation as a stern schoolteacher, “then consider yourself dropped. Smoking is strictly prohibited. We can’t have that kind of disruption to the team.”

And so on. In all of this it’s worth noting Emirates Airlines are one of the World Cup’s official sponsors, whereas Air New Zealand are one of the All Blacks’ sponsors. Therein lies the genius of this security video/advertisement/endorsement– the World Cup, even the All Blacks, are never mentioned. Not quite ambush marketing, but not far removed either.

It remains to be seen if such marketing largesse is applied generally, for akin to the footballing equivalent in South Africa two years ago, the list of (28) items banned from stadia on match days strongly suggests capitalist Big Brother will be watching everyone.

Coverage of all the squads’ various arrivals has been enormous, on both television and in print, and an uncomfortable reminder of the horrible din from two years ago emanating from every television on the planet was provided by one South African supporter among those welcoming the Springboks into Auckland who was blowing into one of those cursed vuvuzelas.

Thankfully, they are on the banned list.

But so too are a host of items which are clearly listed to avoid clashing with the array of official sponsors, such as branded food stuffs and drink bottles as well as banners, signs, flags or clothing which contain branding, with official security guards given discretion to decide what is allowed.

All in the name of “avoiding inconvenience to other people”. Hmm.

However, the warmth of all Kiwis and New Zealand’s willingness to make sure the World Cup will be an enjoyable experience for everyone (bar the Wallabies, perhaps) is palpable. It’s as if everyone has been briefed for the charm offensive, given New Zealand may never have such an opportunity to showcase the country like this again.

New Zealand is understandably proud of both its white and red wines. Pinot Noirs have been going down well in this part of landlocked Otago, where a restaurant called Flame is described by Jimmy Cowan as “paradise for meat lovers” and where Fergburger – a particularly popular haunt for the Ireland players – gives a whole new dimension to fast food. The 10- minute wait is well worth it.

It helps too that, as everywhere else on the planet, you’re taken aback by how many Irish are about. Among the staff in the local Lone Star restaurant (recommended by Richie McCaw on the in-flight magazine) is Kim Young, whose parents, Mary and Jamie, run the Killary Adventure Centre back in Connemara.

In the second of her two-year gap post-Leaving Cert, Kim spent the first year travelling around South and Central America, from Argentina through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Honduras, and then lived in Belize for three months before coming to New Zealand and straight to Queenstown at the start of June.

She reckons there are around 500 Irish here.

About two weeks into her stay she was brought out and, 12,000 miles from home, was introduced to an Irish lad.

“So, where are you from?” “Connemara.” “What part?” “Leenane.” “Ah, you’re kidding.”

According to Young it turned out, “I knew his brothers, and I used to work with his father, who runs a well-known basket-making business in Tourmakeady.

The Irish abroad, eh?

As ever, the black stuff at Pog Mahones or Oul Man Rock are a magnet for the ex-pats and, for sure, support at all of Ireland’s games will again surprise us.

It helped too that the Irish squad arrived on the first day of spring last Thursday and it’s helped too that – after dire warnings of snow and freezing temperatures only a fortnight before – the squad haven’t seen a drop of rain in their week in Queenstown. The same has been true of the rest of the south island and the north island, with sunshine and clear blue skies and highs of around 17 degrees during the day dipping to about one degree at night time.

Of course, this cannot last forever in the Land of the Long White Cloud and rain is forecast from today on in New Plymouth ahead of the squad’s transfer there today, and elsewhere (bang on cue for England’s arrival in Queenstown).

Training has, apparently, been good, with one of the more experienced members of the squad surprised by the quality of Monday’s session when scarcely a ball was dropped. This is, needless to say, a time of optimism for all 20 participants. Everyone is unbeaten. Even so, it would seem confidence has not been unduly dented in the Ireland camp by the events of August.

Everyone is of one in declaring they couldn’t have had a better week anywhere else in New Zealand than Queenstown, a cosmopolitan bubble within a bubble, where the likes of Andrew Mehrtens and Justin Marshall, among others, have relocated. On their belated arrival here on Tuesday, Gordon D’Arcy and Cian Healy were informed they hadn’t missed much at all, just probably the best five days any Ireland squad has enjoyed abroad in at least a dozen years.