And whether or not SANZAAR does cut an Australian team from Super Rugby next year, poor results on the field are proving to be more pertinent than ever as speculation continues about which direction the game's southern hemisphere governing body will go in.

Australian teams have won just four games in the opening three rounds. It does not make for pretty reading, particularly given three of these came in Australian derbies when a local team had to win.

From 2011 to 2016, Australian teams won at least six games overall in the opening three rounds, although there were also a fair portion of local matches that meant a win for an Australian side was almost guaranteed.

The Brumbies are leading the Australian conference with a measly six points; consisting of a win and two bonus points for coming within seven points of their opposition.

The Reds, the Force and the Waratahs all have a win apiece, while the Rebels conceded 127 points in their opening two games before a much-needed bye at the weekend.

If the regular season ended now, the Brumbies would play a home quarter-final against the Crusaders, given one Australian team is guaranteed a spot in the top four due to a confusing conferencing system.

However, on a straight up-and-down ladder with conferences aside, the Brumbies would sit in 10th spot, ahead of the Reds (11th), Force (12th) Waratahs (15th) and last-placed Rebels (18th).

The uncertainty of how Super Rugby will look next year would surely have been an incentive for teams, namely the Rebels, the Force and the Brumbies, to lift their standards on the field.

The Australian Rugby Union has already made a decision on which Australian team will go - if that is in fact the way SANZAAR go following its meeting in London - but it is keeping its cards very close to its chest.

"We're just waiting like everyone else," said Waratahs coach Daryl Gibson. "It'll go through the national union and then I'm sure we'll be informed in due course."

A cut might not necessarily be on the cards though given an 18-team model could still get the green light.

But if it does, Australian teams can breathe a sigh of relief knowing they may have dodged a major bullet given their below-par on-field performances.

Gibson could not put his finger on exactly why Australian teams have battled early in the year but confirmed he wanted to see every team play each other at least once.

"I can't speak for the other teams but certainly we're working through our own issues that have been highlighted over the last two weeks," Gibson said. "The administrators have got a big job to play in getting the competition right and I think a competition where every team plays every team seems to be the format that worked best in the past. How that looks, that's up to them."

A better gauge of how Australia is going might be the number of matches won against overseas opposition.

This year Australian sides have won a solitary match from eight attempts against New Zealand and South African teams.

The Reds, with a 28-26 win over the Sharks, would have bragging rights if the overall numbers weren't so awful.

Granted, there is a small sample size at this early stage of the year, but a pattern is emerging.

Over the previous six years in the same three-game period, Australian teams have won six from 16 matches (37.5 per cent) against overseas opposition; a far better record than the one from eight thus far this season.

Despite the on-field performances, Australian teams are still unhappy about being left in the dark following SANZAAR's decision to delay an announcement about the make-up of the competition in 2018.

There will be a change to the competition structure next year but it is unclear at this stage whether there will be a reduction in teams or a logical and beneficial tweaking of the conferences.

An Australian team could be in the firing line though after it emerged New Zealand argued strongly for a reduction to a 15-team competition.

More will be known once broadcasters and relevant stakeholders have been properly consulted.