Last tuesday, Los Pumas held its first training session with the full squad of 45 players at the Leichhardt Oval Stadium, located 10 minutes from downtown Sydney. The 13 who come from European rugby, finished their period of isolation and joined the rest of the team.

Looking forward for the friendly against Australia XV, next Saturdayr, Michael Cheika, external consultant of Los Pumas, expressed his feelings, after spending three weeks with the team:

“I’m having a great time. A really good bunch of people here, both staff and players. A very good atmosphere. Has been a lot of adversity for the team this year. Lot of struggle away from the family. Lockdowns in hotels and some difficult situations. Players and staff, everyone here are looking to make the most of the opportunity they have been given, which is good”.

About improving day by day. “Obviously, I think first to learn and to improve. I think this is extremely important, to take small wins every day. Specially in this atmosphere, where you have no games to play, to see where you are. We are coming to test matches without trajectory. Just improving every day in your role, in your job on the field, and also lot of enjoyment, enjoying themselves and also very mindful because there is lot of people in Argentina who don’t have this chance, so they want to make sure to be well prepared for this possibility”.

About players attitude off and on the pitch. “They showed in the last practice match against Australia XV that they are hungry to get a feeling of the jersey and to play at the next level. Yes, still a way to go for some of them. To be mixed in a big group with guys that played many tests with some new players, sharing their experience. And also you can see them asking the good questions, which is really important. I’m enjoying just being around and try to help them where I can”.

After meeting European players. “Obviously, there is something about having a shared experience. Listening to some of the guys who were in quarantine, it was not fun and the guys who were in the “real world” were feeling for the players who were in isolation. Yesterday when European players came out and met with the first group there was a lot of emotion. And it was interesting too because some of the guys never met each other. Young players that never meet players such as Nico Sanchez, Pablo Matera. So for them to meet the first time and immediately start training together is so interesting. It was great off the field and on the field. You can see the intensity, which was good before and from now onwards. This is so important for the next weeks, especially when test matches will start”.