KEY POINTS:
The New Zealand Rugby Union plans to loosen its grip on the professional game but has rejected the notion of privately-owned teams.
In the second prong of a three-tiered review of the national game, the governing body has outlined its vision for the professional arm's structure.
A franchise structure review, released this week, recommends the running of Super rugby teams be separated from the operations of provincial unions but that their ownership remain largely in NZRU hands.
Private ownership _ whereby by wealthy individuals or corporations would be granted licences to operate Super rugby teams _ was viewed as unworkable and contrary to the best interests of the game.
Instead, the NZRU intends to grant more autonomy to the franchises and overhaul funding and player payment structures.
The Highlanders are to receive a lifeline, despite the NZRU having serious concerns about their recent performance and future viability.
The report recommends New Zealand maintain a minimum of five teams in whatever form a revamped Super rugby competition takes, with those teams based in the existing host cities.
The decision to back Dunedin as a host city came despite bids from North Harbour, Hawkes Bay and Taranaki to supplant the ailing southern franchise.
Harbour chief executive Brett Hollister said the union maintained an ambition to host a franchise and took heart from an NZRU statement that it maintained "an open mind" about the creation of additional New Zealand franchises.
"We have got the facilities, the commercial growth, the population growth and we have got a great nursery developing players," Hollister said.
"The question is how do you maximise the rugby opportunities in greater Auckland? I don't think you can do justice to it with one franchise."
Hawkes Bay, a rare success story in the failing national championship, would also continue to press its case to become a franchise host, chief executive Mike Bishop said.
The province had performed strongly since joining the expanded national championship two seasons ago and could attract significant commercial and public backing, he said. "Our stance is that there is the ability for more than five franchises and there is also the ability for that to include private equity ownership or partnership.
"We have been doing quite a lot of networking within our community and obviously there is a pretty buoyant mood about rugby in our region at the moment."
Bishop was concerned that if Hawkes Bay was left out of Super rugby while the financially-haemorrhaging national championship was downgraded to an amateur competition, the union would be left without a competition that matched its needs.
"If the next phase is to stick with the current [franchises] and potentially dumb down the Air New Zealand Cup, that creates a number of issues. The next level of rugby would be too far removed from it and would disincentivise guys to stay and play rugby in New Zealand."
Hawkes Bay had already been left out in the cold once, consigned to the semi-professional second tier of national championship when rugby went professional in 1996, he said.
"We don't want to go back there. We have worked very hard to get ourselves an opportunity to play at the level we are currently at. We think we have done reasonably well on and off the paddock and, if there is an opportunity to take it to the next level, our community is united behind us in saying that we'd like to have a go at it."
RUGBY FRANCHISE STRUCTURE REVIEW
* Private ownership rejected.
* NZRU to retain ownership of franchises, although minority shareholding by provincial unions to be considered.
* Independent management and operational structures favoured, to be phased in over time.
* Franchises to contract players directly with mechanisms to control how this is done to be introduced.
* Some foreign players to be allowed into competition.
* At least five teams, to be based in Auckland, Waikato, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
* Highlanders to be retained despite serious concerns over their financial viability.
* An open mind is to be kept with regard to further franchises being created.
