KEY POINTS:
France coach Marc Lievremont has threatened to take an under-strength side to New Zealand next year, which could result in the All Blacks boycotting the June window from 2010.
An agreement was reached in Woking last year by all the major rugby nations that the integrity of test rugby had to be restored, which meant every international game had to be honoured appropriately in terms of selection and attitude.
Both the French and English agreed to finish their club championships earlier in the season so all players would be available to play tests in June.
But, despite that agreement, Lievremont said last week that he would not select players involved in the club championship final next year on June 6. The French are scheduled to play the All Blacks on June 13 and June 20 and the coach said it would put an intolerable strain picking players involved in the club final.
The French national side is selected heavily from just four club teams - Toulouse, Biarritz, Stade Francais and Clermont. These four teams also frequently feature in the semifinals and the chances are high that the French side will be seriously weakened if players involved in the final are not available.
New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said: "We have assurances from Bernard Lapasset [IRB chairman] that the French will honour the Woking agreement and that they will be bringing a full strength side out here next year.
"If we start to hear words that differ to that agreement then we would have to go back to the French and seek reassurances. Our view remains the same in that regard - if we don't feel the Woking agreement is being adhered to then the Sanzar nations will have to review their position on June tests."
Tew stopped short of saying New Zealand would pull out of future June tests, but that outcome is implicit in his claim that Sanzar will review their current position.
The Sanzar alliance lobbied hard in Woking to scrap the June window and have one extended international programme in October and November. Scrapping the June window would have freed up space in the calendar to expand Super Rugby without having to put it on hold and it would also have allowed the All Blacks to stay almost continuously assembled from August through the Tri Nations and into the end-of-year tests.
Sanzar has accepted the decision to persevere with June tests and Tew says they continue to be a significant generator of income. His concern about teams not bringing full-strength sides is the long-term damage it causes to the perception and value of international rugby. He's also of the opinion that the agreement in Woking has to be honoured otherwise it makes a mockery of IRB get-togethers.
"The June tests are not ideal," says Tew. "There are issues with players coming out here after a long and arduous season.
"But they remain a significant money generator for us through sponsorship and gate revenue. Our concern [about not bringing full-strength teams] is not specific to the June tests. We want the best players to be playing in the best games. That is the agreement we made in Woking and that is the agreement we want to see honoured."
It is possible that the NZRU might view a failure by the French to bring a full strength side as an opportunity to kick-start negotiations in earnest about more equitable revenue-sharing.
The existing model of the home side keeping the gate receipts has been a major bugbear for the NZRU for almost a decade. For almost 10 years, they have tried to persuade the Northern Hemisphere unions to change the format but no one has budged.
The NZRU have long argued that the rest of the world is able to cash in more effectively on the strength of the All Black brand. November tests in the Northern Hemisphere featuring the All Blacks sell out in hours. Ticket prices can be ramped when the All Blacks are the opponent and a capacity crowd at Twickenham generates an estimated £5 million ($13m) - all of which is pocketed by the RFU.
Ireland came out here last month, failed to capture the imagination and there were empty seats in Wellington. It was the same for the second test featuring England in Christchurch.
The NZRU have to use every marketing dollar they have just to make an estimated $2m-$3m to sell out June test venues.
What they want is a revenue-sharing scheme that sees them pocket more cash when they play overseas.
Threatening to pull out of the June tests might give them the leverage they need to kick-start formal negotiations on that topic.
The Northern Hemisphere has been able to reject the NZRU's attempts to drive through change because there has been no compulsion, and really why would they volunteer to jump off that particular gravy train?
But presumably if Sanzar decided to pull out of the June tests, they would also have to stop playing in November too, which would have massive financial ramifications for the European unions.
Scotland, Ireland and Wales are dependent on the money they make in that window to function and the possibility of losing the biggest cash cow in the game would have them round the table discussing ways they could get the Sanzar nations to come back.
