All Blacks playing overseas, neutral final venue - broadcasters' wishlist leaked

Superstar Chiefs forward Brodie Retallick playing for the Waratahs? Broadcasters say yes. Photo / Photosport

The top ranked Super Rugby team will lose its automatic home ground advantage from 2021, under radical plans being pushed by a lobby of all-powerful broadcasters.

And the latest southern hemisphere proposals, leaked to an Australian newspaper, include major shifts which could see current All Blacks turn out for South African, Australian and Argentinian Super Rugby teams.

A proposal to use a neutral final venue is particularly bad news for the Crusaders, who are consistently in the hunt for the top spot and title.

Their mid-sized stadium in Christchurch would have trouble bidding for the final rights against major venues in places like Auckland and Sydney.

In a move which mirrors competitions such as the Champions League and NFL, the southern hemisphere rugby competition would sell the final to the highest bidder, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.

This move is said to be on a "broadcasters' wishlist".

This list also proposes a revamped Rugby Championship with mini tours which include midweek games for the international teams against Super Rugby sides.

This would help make up for the shortfall - estimated at $7m in Australia — created by the departure of Japan's Sunwolves from Super Rugby.

The presentation to SANZAAR was made by New Zealand's Sky Sport plus Fox Sports (Australia), Super Sport (South Africa) and Sky Sports (UK) a month ago.

The broadcasters also want cities and regions to be in the team names.

The newspaper report says SANZAAR is forging ahead with a plan B in case World Rugby's embattled campaign to start a global competition falls over.

The proposals include enabling some elite players to sign for Super Rugby teams from other countries without this hampering their test status.

This raises the possibility of a superstar All Black like Brodie Retallick playing for say the New South Wales Waratahs and remaining in the test side, a concept which is standard practice in many sports but outlawed by New Zealand Rugby's residential rule.

"The 'marquee player' concept is effectively proposing a safe zone for the movement of players, allowing them to move overseas but to countries in the same competition, meaning no schedule clashes and a closer high performance relationship," the SMH report states.

"Having Australians playing in South African teams, for instance, could also help boost interest in the traditionally poorly-watched games between South African and Australian teams."

"Themed rounds" and "consistent time slots in each nation" are also proposed, although without explanation.