It could have been a 50-minute flight from Ireland to Scotland. In the end, the South African rugby team had to endure a 13-hour nightmare before they were able to go to bed here on Thursday morning. To make matters even worse, they had to go to bed hungry because, having arrived at their hotel after midnight, they missed dinner. The Springboks trained in Galway on Wednesday morning after winning their World Cup warm-up match against Connacht the previous evening. They were in good spirits when they embarked for their flight from the Shannon airport a little later.
But because British Airways are the team's official travel sponsors, the players and members of the management had to fly to Heathrow in London first on their way to Edinburgh where the Springboks play Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday. After a long delay, they arrived in London where traffic congestion at Heathrow resulted in them spending more precious time on the runway before their plane could take off for Scotland. And that was not the end of their journey. After landing at Edinburgh, they had to board a bus for another time-consuming trip to their hotel. "It was a frustrating day," said Victor Matfield, who will captain the team on Saturday. Despite the scenic surroundings, the Springboks were not in a good mood when they booked into their hotel after midnight. Their practice, scheduled for 11:00 on Thursday, was moved to 15:00 to enable them to get some rest.
Ag, shame!