Wynne Gray: Intransigence damaging sign for the future

All the hoo-ha about the final Bledisloe Cup test is way out of whack.

The Sanzar partners have known about the expanded test and Super 14 competitions since late 2004 yet they were wrangling until this week about the Eden Park game in August.

Why announce the August 19 kickoff if there had not been agreement?

More pertinently, why wasn't the test shifted forward to August 12, which is a free weekend in the Tri-Nations calendar.

It would have meant Australia playing three tests on successive weekends but it would have eliminated the All Blacks' grizzle about travelling to Africa in the middle of a three-test sequence.

Or why wasn't the tri-series simply extended by a week?

The All Blacks and South Africans rarely play in their domestic provincial series, while the Wallabies have no such beast.

The growing intransigence among the Sanzar partners, but especially between New Zealand and Australia, is a damaging sign for the future of the game beyond the 2010 end of the current Sanzar deal.

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Chris Moller took offence this week at comments from his Australian counterpart Gary Flowers, while there are continual snaky references about the voting for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

New Zealand was upstaged during the reign of former ARU chief executive John O'Neill but felt they were getting back into better sync with Australia until the World Cup vote last November.

Australia's decision to vote for Japan rather than New Zealand incensed the NZRU and it seems the rift has been widening since.

New Zealand seems to be carrying on that grudge when the transtasman alliance needs to be strengthened.

Moller based his argument about altering the final Bledisloe Cup kickoff on player welfare issues.

If it was so critical, why not simply extend the Tri-Nations window by another week, instead of leaning on the ARU to make up for their World Cup vote?

The NZRU attempt to alter the kickoff did not impress broadcasters in Australia or South Africa.

They are the groups who bankroll the Super and Tri-Nations series, organisations New Zealand says must be fostered.

But a Friday-night kickoff in Auckland would have meant reduced commercial leverage and smaller viewer audiences in South Africa on a Friday morning.

While the All Blacks have risen to lead the world rankings, the NZRU officials are dropping the ball.

South Africa came close to withdrawing from Sanzar after the Super 12 and switching allegiances to Europe.

That remains a strong chance after the five-year extension of the Super 14.

If that occurs, professional rugby in New Zealand will take a massive financial hit.

New Zealand and Australia will need each other more than ever, but at the moment they are squabbling like spoilt kids.

Officials from both nations are on their way to an IRB meeting this week where they would do well to stabilise their alliance instead of points-scoring in public.