Leading New Zealand provincial teams are reportedly discussing a radical revamp of southern hemisphere rugby to replace the Super 14 and Tri Nations.
They want a 14-team trans-Tasman trophy home-and-away competition involving nine New Zealand teams and five from Australia.
This would mean doing away with New Zealand's premier domestic competition, the Air NZ Cup.
They also want a concurrent European-style tournament of 24 teams from New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Japan, the Pacific Islands and America.
The window for both professional competitions is slated for March to October.
The Dominion Post newspaper reported today that Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill was briefed about the group's plans on the weekend.
The New Zealand Rugby Union's general manager of professional
rugby, Neil Sorenson, said today that such a restructure
would be at odds with the union's preferred position at the
moment.
Former All Black and Japan coach, John Kirwan, has also been
included in discussions, the paper said.
The teams involved include North Harbour, Wellington, Canterbury,
Auckland, Waikato, Otago, Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and Southland
rugby, the newspaper reported.
Sanzar's Super 14 and Tri Nations contract with News Ltd does not
end until 2011.
Agencies
