Australia arrived 25 minutes late for their crucial second Test match against the British and Irish Lions on Saturday morning.
The Wallabies are taking on the Lions in a must-win clash, after the touring visitors claimed a 27-19 victory in the first Test.
But their preparations have taken a big hit, with the team bus turning up almost half an hour later than expected.
Stadium officials at the Melbourne Cricket Ground are said to have expected the teams to arrive around 90 minutes before kick-off.
However, after the Lions turned up on time, Australia didn’t arrive until just before 7pm local time (10am UK time).
Kick-off was set for 8pm local time (11am UK time), meaning the Wallabies only had just over an hour to prepare.
Australia head coach Joe Schmidt then explained why there was a delay in their arrival to the stadium.
Schmidt told Sky Sports: “We were late to the ground, unfortunately, because you couldn’t drive through the traffic that’s out there.
“Which is indicative of the crowd that’s gathering. It’s a massive crowd, a huge venue and a massive night.”
The Wallabies boss was right in saying it’s a massive crowd; in fact, it’s a record-breaking crowd in Melbourne.
More than 95,000 fans are expected to be in attendance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is the most ever for a Lions Test.
It’s also the biggest rugby crowd ever at the venue, beating the previous record of 90,119, which was set in 1997.
Australia coach Schmidt admitted that he doesn’t think the delay will affect his team on the pitch though.
He added: “The players are going to be very conscious of that (the occasion).
“All they can do is put their best foot forward, they’ve trained well during the week and on the back of that, we’ll hopefully be alright in the contest.”
The Wallabies have to beat the Lions to keep their hopes of winning the series alive after losing the first Test.
They haven’t beaten the British side in a series since 2001, so they will want to take it to a decider next weekend.
Meanwhile, for the Lions, they want to repeat their heroics from 2013 and win a second consecutive series in Australia.
How to follow Australia vs Lions Second Test
talkSPORT will have live coverage of the action.
Our commentary team includes Andrew McKenna and Ben Kay plus Alex Cuthbert, David Campese and Alfie Reynolds.
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Fans can watch the action live on Sky Sports from 10am too.
