The Wallabies are battling to get Matt Giteau free to face the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup opener as his French club play tough over the star second-five's availability.
Giteau has been absent as the bulk of the Wallabies squad began their Rugby Championship preparations in Sydney this week.
Giteau has remained in France to start training with Toulon where owner Mourad Boudjellal has maintained a hard-lined stance over his international stars playing test rugby.
Australian Rugby reported on their website that Toulon were "putting a major spanner in the Wallabies' tournament plans".
With an annual wage reported to be around $1.9m a season, there is obvious angst over Giteau by a club desperate to return to the winner's circle in the looming season.
The Wallabies officially go into camp on August 8 and open their Rugby Championship campaign against the All Blacks in Sydney on August 20.
Giteau didn't play for the Wallabies in their June test series win at home against England.
His current absence has been highlighted with fellow overseas players Drew Mitchell, Adam Ashley-Cooper and Will Genia currently in Australia.
Giteau tweeted a photo of his first day of training at Toulon alongside Ma'a Nonu and Bryan Habana.
World Rugby's regulation nine stipulates that clubs must release players for international duty in certain windows if selected.
Boudjellal has previously threatened to counter that by not paying players wages if they leave the club to turn out for their countries.
Lats year it was reported that Giteau lost A$250,000 to play at the World Cup when he agreed with Toulon to have his salary stopped for more than three months.
Giteau, who has played 102 tests for Australia, could face a lengthy absence from Toulon if he wants to be involved in the Rugby Championship with seven tests planned between August 20 and October 22.
That would make him absent for the opening eight rounds of the French Top 14 championship.
Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is a huge fan of Giteau, helping engineer a relaxation of Australian rules on the eligibility of overseas-based players to get him involved with the national team again.