Solving the Super XV riddle...

SANZAR officials will lock themselves in a room in the new year and try to unravel their Super Rugby riddle with local derbies set to be among a host of hotly debated issues.

About all that's certain is South Africa will have six teams in the new competition when it kicks off in 2016 (what a joke, how will adding another mediocre team increase the total number of people watching the games ?? )... after the current broadcasting agreement runs out.

New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew said today opinions were split on whether the current home and away local derbies should be retained or scrapped.

'It appears looking at the numbers from this year's competition that we haven't increased the total number of people watching games, we've just moved them from some games to others,' Tew said before revealing New Zealand's top players were not all in favour.

'If you ask the high performance guys and the players, they aren't enamoured with the idea of bashing each other up twice a year before they get together in an All Blacks side.'

Super Rugby's future format was among a number of issues discussed yesterday during the NZRU's final board meeting for 2013.

The current draw sees teams from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia play each other both home and away each season.

The derbies are particularly unpopular in South Africa where they were seen as a double up on the domestic Currie Cup fixtures.

That issue has also been raised in New Zealand with Crusaders chief executive Hamish Riach saying recently it was reducing interest in the national provincial championship.

'I think the Stormers and Sharks played each other something like five times this year and we don't want to get to the point where that's the case here,' Tew said. 'Although I think we have a much greater differentiation between our Super Rugby teams and our NPC teams.'

Like every issue on the table, there were pros and cons, but Tew said Sanzar were confident they could iron out a deal that appealed to all concerned.

'We are committed to getting this nailed early in the new year so we can present to the broadcasters on time, which is in June,' he said. 'Next time they meet they will almost lock themselves in a room and not come out until they've nailed it.'

The issue of a sixth South African team was a 'plank' of current negotiations, while there was a common will to include Argentina.

However, the latter came with a number of complications in terms of travel, draws, and cost and it remained to be seen whether it was a viable option for 2016.

On the international front, the All Blacks continued to look at playing an extra test next year on the East Coast of the United States.

The venue and opposition had not been decided.

'You can draw a line from Chicago to New York and somewhere in there you'd probably find where we're we will land if we can pull it off.'

Tew revealed he had been approached this year by a dozen countries around the world about hosting an All Black test.

And on the domestic front the NZRU's forecast indicates all of its 26 provincial unions will break even or post a modest profit for 2013.

- © Fairfax NZ News

 Bean Brain all SA has given us is a whole heap of overstaying yarpies...you're as delusional as that SA sign language expert...

...and now SA want to expand at a time when the public are already suffering from rugby fatigue... your soccer nation trying to kill off rugby or something...

..bring back the Super 12 and let the rest compete for a place against the best 12 i reckon..

Brycy

It is all about the boodle - and since SA provides the bulk of it - they want to scream loud and clear.   Problem is there were more spectators at one of the Kings Super 15 games than there were at 3 New Zealand or Aussie games.   Both TV and advertisements provide the boodle - so the bigger the attendance,  the more the more the advert income and obviously the ticket sale income.

So why not milk the system - that is the viewpoint I believe is held on this side.     And he who pays the piper calls the tune - so live with it - that is all I can say.  

I would say the biggest supporter of the conference system would be the Aussies - so whichever side South Africa supports will win that battle. As I understand it - there is no certainty on this side about that one -  so we will  have to wait and see what happens as to that one.             

 ...not so clever mike so what your saying is SA is a greedy little gold digging hussy with all the manipulative skills to prove it but it's more about growing the game in SA is'nt it ??...

...will be interesting to see how it pans out...in the end if we sell our soul to the devil and the product is kak then the attendance and viewership will decrease creating decreased revenue therefore a counterproductive backward step for Super rugby and rugby in general...

Cloudy

Sure - you are correct about the issue of population - but the Sanzar problem remains - the main income source for a variety of reasons remains SA - and as Brycy says Rugby in SA is run by the "greedy pigs" and the pigs want to be fed all the time.

I don't think they actually care about the players - so they do not mind how hey constitute competitions as long as they can maximise their personal fortunes.     I am being nasty - but that is the crux of the matter.

They know we struggle to put five competitive teams together to compete on the relevant level - yet they insist on a sixth team.  Why?   I can understand why they want an Argentinian team included - there has always been a close link between Argentinian rugby and SA.  

That started off more than a century ago when a number of SA farmers would not accept British rule after the Anglo-Boer War and emigrated to Argentina taking with them the game of rugby.   Some of their descendants remained in Argentina and got integrated into the Spanish-speaking community through marriage, some returned to SA - but ultimately a small culture of rugby got instilled and grew through the years.   SA Rugby wants to increase that capacity and there is already a team from Argentina playing in the local Vodacom Cup competition.   They would like to see this tendency grow further and it is for that reason they want a team of Argentina in the Super Series.

Historically the tendency to move out by SA Farmers is repetitive.   Productive farming in SA was basically a restricted operation with about 10%  of the farmers producing 80% of the food.   However, they always tend to look wider and for instance the Springbok captain - Corne Kruger - grew up in Zambia where his father was the biggest farmer producing 70% of the maize and wheat of the whole country.  There always were established farming communities in Namibia and Kenya, although the Kenya community was reduced in the 1960's for political reasons and most farmers returned to SA.    They had a huge share in productive farming in Zimbabwe - but their land was taken away and given to greedy politicians and cohorts producing nothing.  Zimbabwe - previously regarded as the breadbasket of Africa - is now a country where starvation is a constant.   

At present there are SA Farmers operating in Russia, Georgia, Nigeria, Brazzaville Congo, Zambia and Mozambique - making a substantial contribution to food production in those countries.      Where eve r they go rugby will go with them and they will constantly try and spread rugby as a game.