Surplus for provincial rugby

If balancing the books is the name of the game, provincial rugby is continuing to land the goals.

Judging the state of the ITM Cup is a subjective business, but the company tasked with reviewing the numbers is painting a rosy picture.

Deloitte's State of the Unions report shows a third consecutive combined annual surplus for the 14 "semi-professional and amateur" rugby unions.

The surplus for 2014 was $1.2m, following surpluses of $500,000 in 2012 and $3.2 in 2013. There were five years of losses previous to that.

Deloitte's partner Grant Jarrold said "a number of unions are now in a position to take advantage of the capital bases they have accumulated."

Jarrold, who is also chairman of the Crusaders rugby franchise, claimed the financial control of New Zealand provincial rugby "appears to be in good hands."