Melbourne Rebels captain Nic Stirzaker has taken a veiled swipe at the ARU as pressure mounts on the governing body and the players' association to fight to keep five Australian teams in Super Rugby.
Echoeing the concerns of Rebels assistant coach Morgan Turinui, who on Tuesday labelled as "disgraceful" the ARU's procrastination in announcing which Australian franchise would be cut in 2018, Stirzaker said the stress on affected players was taking a heavy toll.
Stirzaker said RUPA needed to "have a stronger voice in the game" and it was rubbish there wasn't enough talent in Australia to sustain five Super sides.
"I absolutely acknowledge that the player depth is an issue and that our performances haven't been up to scratch conference-wise, but particularly ours," Stirzaker told Fox Sports' Kick and Chase program.
"There's other ways to address that. The loss of players to overseas has just been untold, particularly on us (with) guys like Luke Jones and Mike Harris (leaving).
"It sort of grates me when you say Australian rugby has no depth. I think we do have depth but I think it's in Europe.
"There's other ways that we can build that depth."
As Rebels flanker Sean McMahon - dubbed by Wallabies great Tim Horan as a future Test captain - considers a move to Japan at just 22, Stirzaker suggested the ARU's dilly dallying was contributing to the player exodus.
"One of the positives to come out of this year is a guy like (flanker) Will Miller coming up the pathway at 24 and is really thriving in Super Rugby," he said.
"It shows how important it is to invest in those kind of guys and in those pathways, and not just the guys who might be looked at as a Wallaby at 21."
Stirzaker said the Rebels had a positive meeting with RUPA on Tuesday and the message to the ARU was simple.
"They've got to come up with a resolution," he said.
"But people have been saying that for a long time.
"I will just support RUPA's position of wanting to have five teams. It's not about saving us or saving the Force. We need to have five teams in the competition."
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