Three flights to Lima for AWs
The All Whites will arrive in Peru more than 24 hours after their World Cup playoff opponents, but Anthony Hudson says there are advantages to be gained by doing so.
The Kiwis made the one-hour hop from Wellington to Auckland early on Sunday evening, before leaving on an Air New Zealand flight bound for Buenos Aires, Argentina, at 8.15pm.
That will take 11 and a half hours, arriving at 3.45pm (local time) on Sunday afternoon. Shortly after they will board a chartered flight to Lima, which should take just under three hours.
Peru flew out immediately after the 0-0 draw in the first leg in Wellington on Saturday, flying to Auckland first before a chartered flight direct to Lima.
Hudson said leaving a day later allowed them to get the vital first 24 hours of recovery in in the relative comfort of their hotel.
‘‘There is a lot of work going on at the moment,’’ Hudson said on Sunday afternoon.
‘‘The medical staff are doing a good job. It’s just constant massages, ice baths, stretching, plenty of recovery strategies, making sure we try and manage the sleep on the flights, the right timings and that sort of stuff.’’
The process for the flights will be to sleep for as long as possible on the flight to Argentina, then stay awake for the trip to Lima to try and get on their time zone as quickly as possible, Hudson said.
Once in Lima it will be straight to the team hotel, where they will stay for most of their time there.