The Queensland Reds have shacked up at the same hotel as the Australian cricket team after arriving in Cape Town after a whopping 42 hours in transit.
A tough cross-continental trip from Argentina to South Africa was made even tougher when the Reds were forced to make an unexpected detour north to London due to health concerns.
The Brad Thorn-coached team were not allowed onto their flight from Sao Paolo to Johannesburg because they had not had the required inoculations for yellow fever.
But the giddiness of sharing accommodation with Australia's top cricketers - who begin their third Test against South Africa on Thursday evening - is helping the team overcome their jet lag, with an impromptu cricket match closing out their first training session since arriving.
"For us to roll the arm over today, I think everyone's just channelling their inner Aussie cricketer from when they wanted to be one when they were young," five-eighth Jono Lance said.
"We've got a really young group. A lot of guys are over in South Africa for the first time. We get a lot of energy from that.
"I know a lot of the older guys feel pretty young with how many young guys are over for the first time."
The Reds have it all to do if they are to notch a fourth-straight Super Rugby win early on Sunday morning against the Stormers.
Not only do they have to overcome their travel weariness and the loss of a full day's preparation, but they face what Lance rates as one of the toughest assignments in world rugby.
Captained by Springboks powerhouse Siya Kolisi, the Stormers are coming off a 37-20 home victory over the Blues.
They have won six of their past seven assignments against foreign opposition at the picturesque DHL Newlands, the second-oldest rugby ground in the world and a stone's throw away from where the cricketers will play.
"I'll never forget the first time I rocked up at Newlands and just saw the layout of it and how it was built, with the Table Mountain as a backdrop," Lance said.
"You saw on the weekend with how they played against the Blues, they're a pretty damaging team, so we're going to have to be on our best game."
