Provincial coaches have expressed their disappointment at the collapse of the Australian Rugby Championships - the third tier competition in Australia - saying that it could lead to an exodus of players overseas.
The Australian Rugby Union were left with little choice but to dump the ARC after it had lost a staggering 4.7million Australian dollars in its first year and stood to lose a further 3.3million in its second year.
Western Rams boss Brian Melrose was nevertheless shocked by the decision, believing that the competition was heading in the right direction.
'I thought it was a wonderful competition and I'm still in a state of shock that they've pulled the plug,' Melrose said on Wednesday.
'I thought they might streamline it in some way but not just end it suddenly. It is very disappointing because I thought it was headed in the right direction. I'm not exactly sure what I'll do now. I want to stay in coaching but most of the jobs for next year are filled.'
Central Coast Rays coach John McKee thought the competition was perfect for fringe Super 14 players and now believes players will be forced to move overseas.
'If you talk to the people on the rugby side of things, you will find the competition ticked all the right boxes. For the fringe players in the Super 14, it gave them an opportunity to prove they could demand a starting position.
'There are a number of good young players who want to play in a professional environment and without ARC they may move overseas.'
Melrose agreed with his counterpart, saying: 'I suppose that is one consequence of all this. It's probably a bit too early to talk about what might happen but a lot of players will be looking at their futures.'
The ARU are still hopeful of setting up a third tier national competition behind international rugby and Super 14, but nothing is expected in 2008.
