After six defeats in seven outings, Michael Cheika has come under increasing pressure as head coach of the Wallabies.
But Rugby Australia gave Cheika their full backing yesterday, saying the coach will take them through to next year’s World Cup and won’t be axed before then.
RA chief executive Raelene Castle tells the union’s website: “He [Cheika] is contracted through to the World Cup and he has a plan - we are across that plan and we are comfortable with it.
“But clearly you can’t just ignore the performances - they’re not acceptable.
“So it’s about what we can do to support him as an organisation to make sure he has what he needs to make sure the Wallabies are successful as we move into that World Cup.
“There are parts of our game that haven’t performed, particularly around defence.
“So we will be having conversations around that.”
South Africa’s Cheetahs and Kings have named their squads for this weekend’s opening round of Pro14 fixtures.
Both teams will travel to Europe, where the Cheetahs will face Irish giants Munster on Saturday, while the Kings travel to Zebre in Italy.
Among the travelling party for the Kings are former Stormers stars Bjorn Basson and Godlen Masimla, while the Cheetahs have included ex-WP players Ernst Stapelberg and Ryno Eksteen.