Fans of Sydney club side Randwick will be in for a treat in the lead-up to the Rugby World Cup, with the Coogee Oval to host Argentina in a pre-tournament warm-up match.
While the date is yet to be confirmed for the Pumas clash, it is slated to be played around about fortnight before Argentina’s World Cup opener, which is on September 21 against France in Tokyo.
Mario Ledesma’s side will be in Sydney for a training camp before heading to Japan, the head coach telling rugby.com.au the extended stopover will break up the long flight from South America.
“I like the place and we wanted a hard game but not that hard so we’re playing Randwick, that’s we’re talking about that,” he said.
“That’ll be two weeks away from the first game.
“We’re trying an opposed training after that, in the week in Japan before the World Cup, might try get something over there but we’re far away from everybody, so maybe we’re training against each other, just going a little bit harder.
“It cuts the trip in half, it’s a very long trip from Argentina, it’s almost 38 hours or something.
“So we’d prefer to come over here, then stay a couple of days over here and then get rid of the jetlag and then you just go up north.”
Ledesma previously lived in eastern Sydney during his tenure with the Wallabies and Waratahs, but said he had considered alternatives, such as taking his team to Perth for a match against the Force, before settling on the Randwick game.
“We were looking for a game to play before the World Cup and…we were trying to play against Perth but obviously we had to go to Perth and it was quite tricky to go over there and then there was another option coming through Europe but you still have jet lag coming through Europe,” he said.
“I thought it was ideal and I feel good coming over here and the boys do too, so they like it.”
This match won’t be the first time Randwick have welcomed an international side to Coogee Oval. The All Blacks famously played them at the ground in 1988, racking up a 25-9 victory against a Randwick side which included current Wallabies coach Michael Cheika.
Paul Mateo
Guest
they're playing in coogee September 7
Kashmir Pete
Roar Guru
Scott Thanks for this info - good to know about. Cheers KP
clipper
Roar Rookie
Pretty sad what happened to the Rugby club - think there's going to be a Dan Murphy's there now.
Count and Kick
Guest
Yep, I'm sure Roger Tuivasa-Sheck, Charnze Nikol-Clokstad, Jared Warea-Hargreaves, James Fisher-Harris and the like will be there. You can't make this up.
Kick n Clap
Guest
Don’t blame the player. Blame the team & the Franchise. The were & are woefully ,Awfully. That is a fact.
Kick n Clap
Guest
Sound like a load of Argies verses a load of Losers ?? Saying that there will be loads in the crowd with the “Double barrelled names “, so that makes it aright ,I suppose? Ra ,RARA!!
charly_777
Guest
That's what I was wondering ... the real level of Randwick, I answer the question! Thank you!
Jockstar
Guest
Yeah was at the 1988 game, fantastic game and atmosphere
Rick Somerton
Roar Rookie
I am just loving the fact he said he wanted a hard game but not that hard. Randwick won't have played for 6 weeks as they aren't in the finals. Not quite at the level of the 1988 team.
charly_777
Guest
Let Sanchez get fit !!! You can't give those long passes! (Retalick?) and put the entire 1st line of Europe in the Scrum! Luck Ledesma!
charly_777
Guest
I detect an acid humor between cousins! haha
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
It was his old home town Bill.
BillPosters
Roar Rookie
What a great idea. He's no mug this Ledesma. Should be a cracker. Shame it didn't work out with the Western Force though.
Ken Catchpole's Other Leg
Roar Guru
Randwick are playing Argentina this Saturday in Brisbane.