Members of the England World Cup squad received a rousing welcome in Christchurch after touching down for a goodwill visit today.
The English team were scheduled to be based in Christchurch before the region's earthquakes, and are now basing themselves in Dunedin.
But members of the team today visited the Garden City to show support for the people as they recover from the earthquakes.
Coach Martin Johnson and players Shontayne Hape and Dave Wilson were met with loud applause and cheering at Christchurch Woman's Hospital, with about 20 British doctors decked out in English colours and waving England flags.
The group then toured through the hospital and visited mothers with premature babies in the hospital's neo-natal unit.
Wilson took the opportunity to hold one of the premature babies and said it reminded him of how much he missed his one-month-old Oliver back home.
Johnson told hospital staff the team had watched the terrible earthquake scenes from afar and wanted to do what they could to lift people's spirits.
The players will also visit the quake-damaged AMI Stadium before another visit to a quake-damaged school.
- Jarrod Booker, New Zealand Herald