The San Francisco 49ers have officially arrived in Australia, where they will face the Los Angeles Rams at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne in Week 1. The team traveled aboard a Qantas A380, one of the world's largest passenger aircraft, which touched down at Melbourne Airport on Friday morning local time.
The aircraft reportedly features 14 first-class seats and 70 business-class seats. It landed at 7:50 a.m. local time (Thursday at 2:50 p.m. PT) after a flight of just over 15 hours, which traveled 7,855 miles.
While the 49ers have already arrived in Melbourne, the Rams won't make the trip until next week, arriving just one day before kickoff. San Francisco will hold a light practice in Melbourne on Saturday morning (Friday in the United States) before beginning its typical game-week practice schedule on Monday.
The Week 1 matchup will mark the NFL's first-ever regular-season game in Australia. It will also be the 155th meeting between the 49ers and Rams and just the third time in series history that the NFC West rivals have faced each other in Week 1.
San Francisco is 3-1 in international play and will be looking to extend its winning streak outside the United States to four games.
Despite finishing last season with a 12-5 record, the 49ers finished third in the NFC West. They still earned a playoff berth and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the Wild Card Round before falling to the Seattle Seahawks in the Divisional Round.
With the 49ers arriving nearly a week before kickoff, the team will have plenty of time to adjust to the time difference and prepare for the first regular-season game in Australia.
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