Australia to hold domestic Super Rugby spin-off
Rugby Australia have announced an annual domestic Super Rugby competition aimed at giving the country's senior players more game time to kick off in September and October this year.
With teams playing only 14 regular season games in Super Rugby Pacific, there has been concern that players outside the Wallabies set-up do not play enough rugby compared to their peers in other countries.
"The Super Rugby Pacific season is relatively short and sharp, and the contracted players who aren't involved with Wallabies can go a long time between games at that level," RA's Ben Whitaker said in a statement.
"Super Rugby AUS will also be an opportunity to showcase the best emerging player and coaching talent out of club rugby, along with the national and Super Rugby pathway programmes."
The New South Wales Waratahs, ACT Brumbies, Western Force and Queensland Reds will play each other once over three rounds with a final following on a fourth weekend.
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