Coaching in Super Rugby is a tough enough gig - but try doing it when everyone is telling you your team might not exist in two years.

The Wallabies will travel to the hostile South African high veld missing a host of big names, after Tatafu Polota-Nau and Will Skelton joined David Pocock and Matt Toomua on Australia's Rugby Championship casualty list.

Former Waratahs assistant coach Joe Barakat will return home from Europe to join the Western Force next season. 

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Having stuffed up expansion once, to such a horrible extent that both South Africa and Australia are currently actively considering cutting one of their sides from the 2018 season, you'd think that SANZAAR would have learnt its lesson. But no.

The ACT Brumbies are seeking an exemption from the SANZAAR travel protocols to pave the way for them to take advantage of flying directly from Canberra to New Zealand.

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"We will win the grand final". That was Ricky Stuart's declaration at the Canberra Raiders' Mal Meninga Medal night on Monday and it's the feeling around Canberra.

Winger Chris Ashton's England career was hanging by a thread after he was handed a 13-week ban on Wednesday for biting an opponent.

NSW Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson says there are some "real positives" in his side's Super Rugby draw next year.

The Brumbies will play against Sonny Bill Williams and George Smith in Canberra next year, but not the Waratahs.

SANZAAR says it will do everything to protect the integrity of the game but does not want to jump to conclusions until it receives a report from NSW Police in relation to the listening device found at an All Blacks team hotel in Sydney last month.  

Wallabies halfback Will Genia has proved a number of critics wrong in recent weeks with his sparkling form and a man-of-the-match performance against Argentina but has revealed he took more delight impressing another vocal critic; his wife Vanessa.

Wallabies game breaker Israel Folau is in a genuine rut.

The Wallabies have been dealt a major blow ahead of their tour to South Africa and London with star back-rower David Pocock ruled out for the rest of the Rugby Championship with a broken hand.

Australia look to make it two in a row as they take on Argentina.

At times it is hard not to liken the All Blacks to a cruel cat that likes to toy with a bird with a busted wing.

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If you ask the Wallabies players about their performances, mediocre is a word that could come to mind, but there is a difference in mediocre performances and accepting mediocrity. That's just not in their DNA.

ACT Brumbies hooker Robbie Abel admits he has a desire to avoid playing rugby union matches on Sundays to align with his Mormon faith, but is happy to juggle sport and religion for the Canberra Vikings.

The next two months loom as a white-knuckle time for Australian rugby as SANZAAR narrows its focus on the Super Rugby review and World Rugby chiefs meet to unravel the Gordian knot of the international game, a global season.

When Dean Mumm left Australian rugby in 2012 to go overseas and play for the Exeter Chiefs, he had all but conceded he would never play another game for the Wallabies.