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Press, 9 October 1987, Page 32

NZPA-AAP Buenos Aires The Australian rugby coach, Alan Jones, was forced to scrap plans for a training run he intended to give the Australian Wallabies shortly after their arrival in Buenos Aires yesterday. The late arrival of the tourists from Sydney and the dreadful weather which greeted them forced the postponement of the session until this morning. The Wallabies did not arrive until after 6 p.m. and the heavy rain falling as the plane touched down would have made a training run a rather pointless exercise. Mr Jones was eager for his players to run the jet-

lag out of their systems after a 16-hour flight from Sydney. Most of the tourists were more interested in seeing a bed than a playing field, but they will be back at work early today. Australia will have two training sessions in preparation for the tour opener against the Buenos Aires champion club, San Isidro, this week-end. Mr Jones will name his side for the tour opener after today’s training run. The San Isidro match is the first of four to be played in Argentina’s largest city — the last two of them tests against the national side. Enrique Rodriguez — formerly a Puma but .now

a Wallaby — was greeted more like a hero than a deserter when he stepped off the plane. A group of fans showed they were happy to see him in Argentina again, but “Topo” is likely to receive a less friendly reception when he plays his first game. The only previous Australian team in Argentina, in 1979, won six of its seven games, losing only the first test. Only an unbeaten record on this journey will satisfy Mr Jones and the new captain, Simon Poidevin, as the team attempts to restore its confidence after a disappoitning home season.