Pumas a step closer to Four Nations
Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:16
The proposal to have Argentina join New Zealand, Australia and South Africa in a Four Nations competition to replace the Tri-Nations could find agreement very soon.
The chief executives of the International Rugby Board's (IRB) major member nations will be meeting in Los Angeles later this month and the expectation is that their approval of the proposal will go a long way towards opening the door for Argentina to join the existing three countries in an enlarged Four Nations southern hemisphere competition.
"We're still working with the IRB and Argentina and hopefully will draw some conclusions around the possibility of the Tri-Nations becoming the Four-Nations very soon," NZRU chief executive Steve Tew told stuff.co.nz at this week's Super 14 launch in Auckland.
Tew said the IRB-led chief executives meeting in Los Angeles would discuss the international programme for 2012 and beyond.
The SANZAR nations - the alliance comprising New Zealand, Australia and South Africa - are enthusiastic about including Argentina in a Four Nations tournament, and a recent agreement from French clubs that they would not stand in the way of their players' participation in the competition is a substantial breakthrough in making the proposal a reality.
Meanwhile, the new broadcasting deal between SANZAR and News Limited is believed to be in the final stages of negotiation and is expected to be finalised within weeks. The broadcasting deal will secure the major revenue source for the southern hemisphere unions for 2011 and beyond.
There is no word officially, but it is understood that a positive result has been achieved and that the agreement needed only finer details to be sorted out before it was finalised.
Tew was tight-lipped at this week's Super 14 launch, reports stuff.co.nz, other than to say he hoped an announcement would be made soon and that things were looking positive for a deal with which all parties were happy.
Rumour has it that the new deal could be worth as much as US$400 million over five years, which would be a US$77m increase on the previous agreement.
The agreement will allow each individual country to negotiate separate revenues for their domestic games, including national championships and inbound Tests.
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