Between Two Posts: Matt Dunning laments South Africa's exclusion from Super Rugby
Envious of the glamorous life of a professional athlete?
Well forget that and spare a thought for the modern Super Rugby player, who will be doing it tough under the new competition structure next year.
Super Rugby has officially cut ties with South Africa, instead pivoting to a 12 team 'Pacific' format that includes five Australian teams, five from New Zealand plus newcomers Fijian Drua and Moana Pasifika.
Watch the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season on Stan Sport. Start your 7-day free trial\u00a0here
The changes were discussed on the latest edition of Stan Sport's Between Two Posts, with former Waratahs and Wallabies cult hero Matt Dunning joining Sean Maloney and Morgan Turinui for some entertaining banter.
"Firstly, the flag should be at half mast for Super Rugby at the moment, without being able to tour South Africa," Dunning joked.
"Mate, this is the one indictment on Super Rugby - you are ruining these boys' lives. It's added incentive to play for the Wallabies, to go to Africa."
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Matt Dunning of the Wallabies calls for the ball during a drill at Coogee Oval in 2008. Getty
"I remember my first trip with the Waratahs to South Africa and I was especially pumped.
"Because I'm a terrible flier but the greatest thing, when I was 21 or 22, is you fly business class. I was so excited to be flying business class for the first time.
"I've got all my drinks, I've got red wine, white wine, I've got a beer, a vodka and diet coke - I've got all the drinks. I've got all the drinks, I've got all the buns and the plane is still being loaded.
"There's still passengers, all the economy people are still coming through, looking at this big, fat prop going 'oooh, hoo hoo!'... they're just shaking their head. The best life."
The 2022 Super Rugby season will kick off on February 18 and run for 18 weeks, with a 15-round regular season followed by three weeks of finals.
All 91 games will be broadcast live and ad-free on Stan Sport, with selected matches also being aired free-to-air on Channel Nine.
