Rugby Australia and ACT Brumbies face uncertain future as Super Rugby suspended

Super Rugby stars parked their cars at the back door and flung open the boot before raiding the club's gym to grab whatever they could find as they prepare to go "old school" in a two-week isolation period.

They left only a handful of footballs, weights, cones and resistance bands sprawled across the floor inside Brumbies headquarters.

For two weeks it will stay that way, with players told to train on their own for a fortnight after Super Rugby action was suspended until at least May 1.

Plans to launch a domestic Super Rugby competition have been suspended to leave the immediate future of Australian clubs hanging in the balance.

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Officials had been sculpting a new competition featuring Super Rugby's four Australian clubs as well as the Western Force with a planned kick-off date of April 3.

But the tournament has been suspended until at least May 1 after the Australian government introduced stricter measures to combat the spread of coronavirus.

"They'll have their own little training programs and do as best as they can," Brumbies chief executive Phil Thomson said.

"They'll do a bit of old school stuff, there's a hill run, there's an oval. It won't be as sophisticated as going to gyms and doing all that sort of work.

"It's another challenge we've faced during the course of the season, we've had plenty of them this year. I spoke to them this morning, they'll embrace the next two weeks and try to get better each day.

"It's very difficult, it's evolving day by day, hour by hour. It's no different to anyone else out there in society.

"We're doing our best to plan with Rugby Australia and the other Super Rugby teams on how we cope with this situation at the moment."

Thomson says a five-team league had all but received the final tick of approval before the coronavirus situation escalated throughout the country over the weekend.

Whether tightened travel restrictions will eventually allow the winners of each conference - should Australia's counterparts from abroad return to play - remains to be seen.

For now officials are committed to a domestic competition designed to find the best Super Rugby team in Australia - a mantle the Brumbies can currently lay claim to.

"Hopefully at some stage we'll be able to get a date to get that competition started. At the moment we're working on May 1, but as we know things are changing on a regular basis," Thomson said.

"It's hard for everyone. The team were going well, they were enjoying the rugby they were playing, people were enjoying the style of rugby they were playing.

"They were on a bit of a high, but we can't do anything about this situation. We just have to deal with it."