Rugby: Provincial scab set to keep on weeping

Most of the main players say they want the persistent sore that is the structure of New Zealand provincial rugby cured by 2011 - but the prospect remains that the schemozzle could still be schemozzling in the year this country hosts the Rugby World Cup.

After strong signals of yet another stay of execution for structural changes to the Air New Zealand Cup in 2010 - as prefaced in the Herald on Sunday in September - most rugby factions say they are keen to avoid problems in 2011.

Support is growing for delays for yet another year, with the national provincial competition now likely to remain at 14 teams instead of 10 in 2010 because of concerns over a meaningful second-tier competition.

But former NZRU CEO David Moffet said he could see the whole issue flaring up again in World Cup year and exposing New Zealand to ridicule.

"I thought they had settled it. Now it turns out they haven't - and I am sure there is the facility for this whole argument to be going still in 2011. The problem is the silly six-team division they created isn't a competition anyone is interested in."

The lack of significance and the lack of broadcast coverage of the proposed six-team first division is understood to have earned player disfavour - and their support is needed to ratify the collective agreement empowering the competitions.

However, there is pressure to ensure this vexing issue is fixed in 2011 and NZRU chief executive Steve Tew can't understand why some unions might delay the decision.

He is still committed to culling four teams for next season but the decision was ultimately down to the NZRU board.

"We still have to face up to changes in the future and I'm not sure why unions would want to prolong the pain of that," Tew said.

Moffet said: "I can't believe Steve Tew is saying that.

"Surely this has gone on for long enough now. If he was any sort of a CEO he'd be saying 'back me or sack me' instead of hiding behind the board."

If the competition next year is unchanged, bigger unions will again lose their All Blacks before the finals as they head off on their annual end-of-year tour. The Rugby World Cup will affect the Air New Zealand Cup, with only an eight-week window for the competition in 2011.

But there seems to be a desire for changes brought in that year to be enduring - no matter if it is 14 or 10 teams. The 2011 Air NZ Cup season would be fitted into eight weeks by playing some games midweek before reverting to 12 weeks in 2012.

The NZRU's plans are also under strain because even the Heartland unions likely to make up the numbers in the new six-team first division are doubtful. The board meets to decide the issue on December 11.

Mid-Canterbury and Wanganui are the most likely to step up, although talks have also been held with South Canterbury. Wanganui chief executive Dale Cobb said there was considerable merit in delaying the decision by a year.

"Maybe in the interests of rugby in this country it's best to roll [with the present situation] for 12 months so we have some stability," Cobb said.

"We are comfortable either way but there needs to be enough of an incentive for us to go up both financially and playing-wise. There are some pretty meaty decisions to be made which will cause instability for Heartland and Air New Zealand Cup teams."

Tew said: "We don't want to force unions to come up if they're not comfortable. We are still talking to three and know there's a varying degree of eagerness and confidence. But if we can't find two unions to come up, we will have to go back and rethink what plan B is but it's not obvious at the moment."

One option if the competition stays at 14 teams long term was to split it into two pools of seven or one pool of eight and another of six, like South Africa's Currie Cup. Another is to play more midweek games to fit it into the 12-week window planned from 2012.

The latter option was tabled by Tasman chief executive Peter Barr at a recent forum of rugby bosses. While it received widespread support with 19 in favour and only six against, Barr said it "didn't find favour with the NZRU".

"2012 is the time to restructure when Super Rugby goes to a Super 15 and the Rugby World Cup is over. Otherwise it's going to annoy fans with all this changing."