Departing Wallabies and NSW Waratahs back Rob Horne won't have a bar of the negativity surrounding Australian rugby and boldly predicts it will go from strength to strength.
Horne will head to English club Northampton after this season and will play his final Waratahs home game against the Jaguares in Sydney on Saturday.
He won a 34th Test cap last month, against Italy, but confirmed he wouldn't be available for World Cup selection in 2019.
Poor Super Rugby and Test performances over the past 12 months and the delay over the culling of one of the Super teams have generated negativity around the code.
However, 27-year-old Horne is adamant there's cause for optimism.
"It's not the end of the world, which seems to be the current narrative," Horne said.
"I think there's so much talent and so much ability and rugby knowledge and smarts that the game will survive and it will go from strength to strength."
Pressed for more reasons why he was so confident, Horne said "as a rugby playing nation, we're certainly one of the minnows numbers wise.
"We punch above our weight and we've got guys that are world class.
"We're benchmarked against the best team in the world which is New Zealand, and that's fair enough.
"Until we can compete and beat them regularly, that's going to be the way we're judged.
"I think as players we're content with that, because that's the only way you should be judged, if your the best in the world or not."
Horne said the surge in Sydney club rugby crowds this year proved there was still plenty of support for a code he noted was booming overseas.
"What I've taken from the (British and Irish) Lions series (in New Zealand) is that rugby is in an amazing spot," Horne said.
"Especially in Europe and in New Zealand, it's a game that's healthy and vibrant.
"... talking to people just around the place that come up to me and have a chat there's so much underlying support for rugby.
"I'm completely confident and comfortable in the game in Australia because I know how much support there is."
