Pumas pass on travel tips after gruelling journey

RUGBY World Cup squads yet to make the trip to Australia should heed the warnings of Argentina who were the first team to arrive Down Under.

The Pumas had a gruelling journey that took them from Buenos Aires to Sydney via Santiago de Chile and Auckland and across the International Date Line.

Now that the players have recovered from the disorientating 28-hour trip they have issued some tips that could be of use to their fellow competitors.

"The trip was very long and we were all really tired," said Castre forward Ignacio Lobbe.

"But our doctors kept us up until bed-time Australian time so that

it would be easier and quicker for us to adapt to the time difference."

According to Beziers fly-half Gonzalo Quesada the ploy worked: "I'm adapting really well, this morning I woke at 6am after seven really good hours of sleep."

"We have now been ordered to keep well hydrated as the body loses plenty of minerals during long flights."

And Quesada, top scorer in the 1999 World Cup, was out soon after waking to introduce his boot to the Gilbert balls that will be used during the tournament. "It's a nice ball I've had a few shots at goal and it feels very much like the ones we played with on our recent tour of South Africa. I am sure that we'll get along together well!"

The Pumas will have to get into their strides early, as they face

the hosts in the first game of the tournament on Friday Oct 10 in Sydney.