Hundreds welcome England

England rugby officials tried their best to keep their arrival quiet, but hundreds of English nationals, rugby fans and Queenstown residents tracked the England Rugby World Cup squad down yesterday - and gave the team a fitting welcome at Queenstown Airport.

The squad arrived just after 11.15am, having chartered a flight from Dunedin, some sporting visible signs of the team's hard-fought win against Argentina in Dunedin on Saturday night.

England first five-eighth Jonny Wilkinson was clearly the crowd favourite, unable to take more than two steps between signing autographs.

At a press conference in Queenstown yesterday afternoon, England forwards coach John Wells said the team was happy to be in the resort and have a chance to "freshen up".

"We are in Dunedin for a long time. I think it's just a case of giving the guys a break.

"Dunedin is our main base. Queenstown ... it's an opportunity to get some really good training in and freshen up."

Wells said the team would be taking in some of Queenstown's adventure tourism offerings, but defence coach Mike Ford said there would be restrictions on what activities players could do.

"Obviously, we don't want them to get injured by doing something stupid, but there are a lot of things planned for them which are pretty safe."

The English squad will be in Queenstown most of this week, with school visits planned around the town on Wednesday.

Its next game is against Georgia in Dunedin on Sunday night.