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It's comparable in the sense that the A League tends to have similar TV ratings to Super Rugby. And I think any competition along these lines would require private investment in individual teams. But I see this as being more likely than attracting private equity in Super Rugby. It'd be...

You have to keep in mind that the ARU would still be able to subsidise such a competition with the substantial revenues it generates from the Wallabies. And while the Super Rugby broadcast revenue the ARU receives would fall it'd be more than countered by not having to centrally contract...

Well I think it'd be a higher quality tournament than the A League is, relative to the best tournaments in either sport (i.e. an Australian based pro comp would be closer in quality to Super Rugby is now than the A League is to the English Premier League or Euro Champions League). And while...

The NRC is essentially a short development competition. It is quite different to what a mostly domestic professional club competition, including our 5 established domestic teams, would be. For one, players could be signed from all over the world. There's no reason why it couldn't be at least as...

You may be right, but the problem with persisting with Super Rugby in an inadequate form is that we're pretty much guaranteed to continue to go in the same direction we're going, which feels a little like slowly bleeding to death. We'd likely have to drop at least 1 team, lose thousands of their...

Oh I think it's realistic, it just doesn't seem like SANZAAR have been trying to make this happen. I think SANZAR should have worked with interested parties in the US a number of years ago to set up a 'Super Rugby America' tournament that in time could have been added as a conference. Maybe this...

So what happens if NZ don't agree? If we went domestic, whatever tournament that was created would simply have to live within its means. But it'd be fully professional and I think there'd be enough money for it to be at least a higher level than the Currie Cup and M10 Cup. And I think we'd...

I think to make the most value of a Trans-Tasman comp NZ would have to be willing to allow some Kiwi players to play for Australian teams and remain eligible for the All Blacks. Even if it was just say 20 players on the fringes. The thing is NZ have better player depth, while Australia has the...

This is true, and I think the best of both worlds is achieved with a Trans-Tasman (potentially plus Asia) competition or conference, including our 5 existing teams, that makes up the bulk of our domestic season. But if this isn't possible would it be better for rugby in the long term if we...

Agreed, but maybe if the best Argentinian players could be spread through professional franchises in these countries, and mixed with the best local players it could be possible. At least for a South American conference. As much as I'd like to see North America be part of that, or a separate...

The Americas Rugby Championship could potentially evolve into a Super Rugby conference.

Is it a good thing that the strength of rugby in this country is so reliant on the success of one team that plays 6 matches in Australia each year? Would anyone argue that rugby is stronger in Australia than it is in France? I don't think anyone could do it with a straight face, yet the...

It seems most of us agree that the best thing for rugby in Australia would be a Trans-Tasman or Asia-Pacific tournament that links up with South Africa and South America only for a few weeks at the end, in either a separate cup tournament involving everyone, or a champions league for the best 8...

I think it's a bit early to say the AFLW has surpassed rugby. It's still in the honeymoon phase and the crowds are already dropping off. In the 4th round the largest crowd was 6,700 and two were under 4,000.

First of all neither of us know what the reduction in travel costs would be in relation to the reduction in revenues, but John O'Neill said a few days ago that when they looked at it in 2009 they basically cancelled each other out (NZ ultimately stuck with SA for perceived player development...

The fans would get more games to watch at a decent time, players would travel less and costs would reduce. It'd also provide much better chances to grow commercially in the rich Australian sporting market, which NZ would benefit from. As I've pointed out before there would be ways to even out...

From what I read the money was actually around the same after taking into account the cost saving of a trans-tasman comp. From memory the main reason that was reported was the NZRU wanted their players to have regular exposure to the South African style of play. Not sure if this is completely...

I think most Australian fans would prefer a Trans Tasman comp (or plus Fiji and Japan). The ARU even went into the last round of negotiations with this as a preference for the regular season but the NZRU weren't in favour. I do wonder what would happen if the ARU forced the issue on this. I...

Well Australia's economy is bigger than South Africa's and New Zealand's combined. And the money in sport is enormous, I would guess multiples of the other two combined. Rugby could gain a bigger share of that market if it could figure out a structure that was more attractive to an Australian...

This seems pretty farfetched. If Australia was such dead wood we'd have never got our way within SANZAR about anything. We're the biggest potential commercial market of all the primary partners, and for NZ we're the only one in the same region. Would NZ want to be in a competition where a much...