KEY POINTS:
There is a bigger picture lurking behind last night's historic game in Hong Kong - whether Southern Hemisphere rugby really can do without the big boys of the Northern Hemisphere in June every year.
This game is an exercise in assessing the market ahead of what is shaping
to be a major conflict with the north.
Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill revealed that, between 2000 and 2008, the home side has won 86 per cent of all tests played in the June window.
Over the same period, the home side has won 37 per cent of the tests played in the November test window.
"There are many ways this could be interpreted," said O'Neill, who had the IRB drum up the numbers.
"But the way I read this is that the Northern Hemisphere have sent us under-strength teams. It is hard to remember collectively when we [Sanzar nations] lost a test in June."
The problem with test football as O'Neill currently sees it lies in just one area: "The June window."
That's where the stoush is brewing. In the past eight years, the Northern Hemisphere has continually treated the June window with disdain. Other than England's back-to-back wins against New Zealand and Australia in 2003, O'Neill is right - it is tricky to recall any other away victories.
The Sanzar nations can't claim they are without sin in the quality of sides they have taken north for November tests but a 63 per cent win ratio says they have picked enough big hitters to get the job done.
O'Neill is at the point where he has almost had enough.
Australia has felt the financial consequence of that disdain with ticket sales well down in 2007 when the Welsh brought a half-baked unit and they were poor again this year when France travelled with a team that didn't include any players involved in their club final.
France are potentially going to send another under- strength side to New Zealand next year, as they have failed to honour the Woking agreement to finish their club season by the end of May.
French executives have given reassurances the best side will come, that a second wave of players will fly to New Zealand after the final. What they say and what they do might not correlate and that could be the final straw.
Sanzar are in negotiations to extend Super 14. More teams means more games and that will push the competition into June. Problem time. There are test commitments in June.
So what can Sanzar do? They could break the Super Rugby competition and return to it after the tests. They could play through the tests, which would see franchises lose their internationals at the business end.
Or they could skip the June tests altogether.
The last option is gathering support. And it will gather more support if the French fail to honour their word next year.
O'Neill can see a scenario where: "We say to them [Northern Hemisphere] don't bother coming, but we want a greater share of the revenue from the November tests."
That would suit Sanzar just nicely. They could expand Super Rugby without interruption and then segue nicely into Tri Nations, then travel north on major tours where they play at neutral venues on the way, then reap some hard cash for playing the European nations.
Financially, they would come out ahead of where they are now and the season would have greater flow.
So that is what Hong Kong is really about. It is about testing the market to see if it really can support tests in neutral venues.
Last night's game netted both sides an estimated $4.5 million each. The All Blacks will pick up around $3 million when they play England. In two tests, they will pocket almost double what they would by playing three home games in June.
If the North can be persuaded to revenue share all tests, then the June window will almost certainly be killed. The fight, though, will come around revenue sharing.
Getting blood from a stone would be easier.
