Australia’s preparations for their clash with Scotland have been thrown into chaos after they were ordered off their training pitch in Edinburgh.
Michael Cheika’s side used Tuesday as one of their key days in the week leading up to a match that’s shaping up as a huge test against a side who beat them in Sydney earlier this year.
However, the groundsman at Edinburgh University told Cheika the surface couldn’t be used after heavy rain, with the University’s first XV playing on it on Wednesday amid fears it would be cut up.
Instead, the forwards went through drills behind the posts, right near some trees after another area off the side of the field was deemed an injury risk because of undulating ground.
Cheika missed team meetings in the afternoon after spending time on the phone pleading with the Scottish Rugby Football Union to find them an alternative venue.
But the offer of a pitch behind the SRFU’s head office at Murrayfield was rejected by the Wallabies’ training staff amid fears of Scottish spies looking in on line-out plays ahead of Saturday’s clash.
The team completed their session on a 3G artificial pitch.