Writing in the Irish Independent, Hugh Farrelly reports from New Plymouth ahead of Ireland's clash with New Zealand.
"Dutch Gold don't do one-horse towns, but ... Actually, that's a bit unfair, you cannot describe New Plymouth as a one-horse town, given that the horse has long since bolted for a more stimulating existence in the Australian outback.
"It calls itself a city, but New Plymouth (or 'Newtownshambles' as one of the more cynical members of the Irish press corps calls it) is no more than a moderate-sized town and it was a pretty grim place to be on Thursday evening with violent wind and rain coming in off the Tasman Sea.
"The streets are laid out American-style, so your hotel is located "two blocks from the clock tower on the corner of King and Devon, and so on. And the main drag was exactly that, shutters clattering, not a car in sight, and only a few die-hard locals venturing from their homes to ponder their existence over sorrowful pints at various Tumbleweed Arms-type hostelries."
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