The future of Australia's Super Rugby footprint could remain shrouded in uncertainty for some months to come with top administrators here and abroad poised to continue putting off the tough decisions about the competition's structure.
As the players' union called for the Australian Rugby Union to back its national footprint and rule out axing one team, it emerged that a final report on a 10-year vision for Super Rugby could be delayed.
A final version of the report, compiled by consultancy firm Accenture and originally due early this year, was supposed to underpin member unions' decisions about their preferred models. The four unions, New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina, were then expected to nut out their positions and vote on a final model at a top-level SANZAAR meeting on March 9.
With those dates looming, however, all certainty has disappeared from the discussion. At a meeting on Monday the board of the Australian Rugby Union is now expected to agree on a 'Plan A' and 'Plan B'-type position, depending on what preferences are presented by the other unions in March, while the SANZAAR office has backed away from a solid delivery date on the strategic review and is putting the ball firmly back in the court of the member unions.
Messaging out of both the ARU and SANZAAR suggests there is great reluctance to stake a position on the game's future. The same three choices remain: retaining the 18-team status quo, cutting two teams to 16 and cutting three teams to 15.
"I think we're getting closer but that decision is not going to be made until at least March 9 when SANZAAR ExCo gets together," ARU chief operating officer Rob Clarke said on Monday.
"There's a whole lot of information and modelling that's gone into that presentation for that paper at the meeting. I can't pre-judge what decision [SANZAAR] are going to make.
"A decision like this requires a unanimous vote at ExCo ... you know the political challenges in South Africa, Argentina has its own challenges, as do we and New Zealand. It's very hard to predict what answer might be arrived at."
The Rugby Union Players' Association called for decisive action from the ARU.
"Professional rugby is the economic engine of the game in Australia and we need more local content, not less, generating a larger revenue base to reinvest into premier and community rugby," RUPA boss Ross Xenos said. "The ARU has a vision to 'inspire all Australians' but there is nothing inspirational for any of the game's stakeholders in voluntarily going backwards."
It is further unwelcome white noise at the start of a season that all joint-venture partners need to go down well with fans and broadcasters. Despite the distraction, however, the ARU will be relieved to have secured in telco Vodafone a high-end sponsor for the domestic season.
According to industry insiders the multi-year naming rights deal could be worth about $1.5 million per year. It was secured at the last minute – just two weeks before Monday's season launch in Brisbane – after the ARU came under scrutiny for failing to secure sponsorship for some key recent tournaments.
"We're ecstatic, it's great to get a global brand like Vodafone back," Clarke said.
"It's not just an ARU deal, it's a Super Rugby team deal, and I think if you asked each of our Super Rugby CEOs if they were happy that Vodafone is on board and the financial outcome for them, you'll get an overwhelming hip-hip-hooray."