Warm-up hitch for Aussies

Australia coach Eddie Jones has been left frustrated by the World Cup organisers’ decision to ban both the Wallabies and Argentina from warming up on the field before Friday’s tournament curtain raiser.

A lavish opening ceremony precedes the highly-anticipated encounter at Telstra Stadium, and Jones has been told the situation is non-negotiable.

“We’ve been told there’s all the opening ceremony going on you have to do your warm-up in your dressing room,” said Jones.

“It’d be hard to think that for the 100m Olympic final the athletes wouldn’t be allowed to have their normal warm-up, but it’s a one-off so we’ll just cope with it as best we can.

“We’ve known since last January that we would have to have an indoor warm-up for the first game, but in terms of not being allowed on the ground full stop, we were only told of that late last week.

Jones said his players would do extra practice during the week in a bid to cope with the changed routine.

Nevertheless, he believes having 22 players, who will be chomping at the bit to get stuck into their World Cup campaign, cooped up inside for at least an hour is “unsatisfactory”.

Instead of following their normal pre-match routine, the Wallabies will have to go through their drills in the confines of the home dressing room.

“Guys do like to get out and have a look at the ground. Players do like their routines,” he said. “It is a long time to be stuck in a room.”

By warming up on the field, players also get the chance to test the underfoot conditions.

With that now outlawed for this game, Jones has requested to be allowed onto the field with captain George Gregan before the ceremony to check the field.