Australia kicked off training pitch in Edinburgh due to university match ahead of clash with Scotland

Australia’s plans for their final autumn international against Scotland this weekend took a hit when they were forced off their training pitch on Tuesday – because there was a university game scheduled for the following day.

The Wallabies have been preparing for this Saturday’s encounter at Murrayfield at Edinburgh University, with Michael Cheika’s side looking to put the disappointment of last weekend’s 30-6 loss to England behind them.

However, they were greeted by what former captain Stephen Moore described as “probably one of the poorest surfaces I’ve ever seen” on the Peffermill Playing Fields, with this week’s weather leaving its mark on the surface.

Furthermore, the Australian coaching team were then informed that they were no longer allowed to train on the pitch due to the risk of them cutting up the turf, with Edinburgh due to take on Durham University the following day. However, due to the conditions of the all the pitches at the playing fields, that game did not take place.

An Edinburgh University statement read: “We regularly host visiting international teams at our facilities, which are amongst some of the best in the country. Unfortunately, heavy and persistent rainfall over the last few days made all our grass rugby pitches unsafe and unplayable. We were able to offer the Australian team training time on our World Rugby approved 3G all-weather pitch as an alternative.”

Despite being ranked third in the current World Rugby rankings, the Wallabies were forced to alter their plans and even a phone call from Cheika to the Scottish Rugby Union wasn’t enough to let them train just four days before their Test.

“It felt like the Amazing Race a bit there...darting around different fields,” said 128-cap Moore, who will retire from all forms of rugby after this weekend’s action.

“It was very slippery. We tried to do some drills on the side but it was very, very difficult. It was difficult to get any purchase. We had to do our best on the artificial surface.”

Despite the distractions, Moore refused to allow the distractions to be an excuse should the Wallabies misfire this weekend, with part of Cheika’s reign over the last three years being to implement a “no excuse culture” to his squad.

“One thing we pride ourselves on as a team is to have no excuses about anything,” Moore said. “That's probably the message we are trying to get across because what you face, particularly away from home, you can't use as an excuse for your preparation.”

Australia were offered the chance to train on the practice pitch next to Murrayfield for Thursday’s session, but refused as they feared they would be vulnerable to spies from the Scottish camp who would be able to watch the private session.