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25th May 2019
01:11pm BST

Fergus McFadden in Champions Cup action for Leinster, last season. (Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile)[/caption]
The Ireland squad went to Queenstown for the first week of their stint in New Zealand, before their tournament opener against the USA (in New Plymouth).
"In Queenstown," McFadden recalled, "there was this golf course you could only play on if you were invited. And we were by this fashion designer, I think. A really rich guy from New Zealand, anyway. He invited the Irish rugby team for a day out there; to play golf.
"It was a really tight game and Johnny and Paul are good golfers. To be fair to Trimby, he can be too when he wants to. "The game was tight and it was All Square [level] going down the 18th. We found our ball and it had the worst lie of all time; shocking. "But we were playing every second shot [foursomes]. So I hit the drive and Trimby was hitting our second shot. The lads weren't looking at the time and we were like, 'Here, we can't lose to these lads. They're never going to let it go'. "We like teed it... we actually put the ball on a tee - the most beautiful lie ever - and Trimby smashes this four-iron within 10 feet of the hole and we beat the lads. And O'Connell was sick for days because; the worst loser of all time!"Trimble agrees that O'Connell and Sexton were two of the best golfers in the Ireland squad, as the most hell-bent on winning every game they played. "And they were up for it," he added. "There was never a sweeter win. "Ireland beat Australia, two weeks later, and it still didn't taste as sweet."

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