NZRU seeks Bledisloe shift

New Zealand's proactive stance on player welfare could lead to the return of regular afternoon test rugby but is also further straining the Sanzar alliance.

The New Zealand Rugby Union (NZRU) is considering a Saturday afternoon kick-off for the third Bledisloe Cup test on August 19 after the All Black management expressed concerns about playing later in the day.

The All Blacks face back-to-back tests against South Africa following the final Bledisloe clash and are scheduled to assemble in Auckland on Sunday, August 20 at 5.30am to fly to the Republic.

If the game against the Wallabies kicks off at 7.30pm on August 19, the players will 'come off duty' at about midnight and then be looking at only five hours' sleep.

The All Black management team said that programme will be detrimental to their chances of winning in South Africa, where they will be required to play on consecutive weekends as a consequence of the expanded format. They want to play Australia earlier in the day, or even on Friday night, to extend recovery time for the players.

Having listened to those concerns, the NZRU is in discussion with their Australian and South African counterparts as well as broadcast rights owner, Newscorp, about shifting the game to Friday, August 18 or to 2.30pm on Saturday, August 19.

NZRU chief executive Chris Moller said: "The only reason this is on the table [2.30pm kick-off] is that a 7.35pm kick-off means it will be at least midnight before the players get to bed. Five hours of sleep after a potentially intense test, followed by air travel across the globe and having to get up twice to play South Africa is a pretty hard ask. We want to give our athletes every chance of winning.

"To my knowledge this is the first time this has been an issue and it is a function of moving from a two-match to a three-match series."

But the chances of the All Black management being granted their wish do not appear desperately high. Australian and South African executives have been against the switch. They've made it clear they'd be reluctant to sanction a change for fear of upsetting TV moguls.

A Friday night kick-off in New Zealand would mean a 5.30pm start in Australia which is problematic due to the significant numbers of people still working at that time. The situation would be worse in South Africa, where most of the rugby public would be required to be late for work to watch the game live.

Saturday afternoon is little better for the Australian market as a 12.30 start clashes with junior sport.

"Both South Africa and Australia have expressed concerns from their broadcasters' point of view," said Moller about the discussions to move the Eden Park game.

"We want the All Blacks to win but we want to win economically, too. The players have always wanted to play in the afternoon because the ball is drier and the temperature is warmer. But the reality has always been that broadcasters want the match in the evening in New Zealand.

"Take last year's Super 14 game between the Hurricanes and Waratahs. It was a top-of-the-table clash played on a Sunday afternoon in Wellington. It should have been the game of the round but it wasn't a sell out and, more importantly, it rated only the fourth out of five games that weekend in terms of viewing figures.

"The ratings were 43 per cent down on the game that was played on the Friday night."

With more than half of NZRU's income coming from broadcast revenue, there has previously been a reluctance to challenge the status quo.

But the expanded format has markedly increased the workload of the players and the NZRU has made welfare a high priority.

Moller said it might be some time yet before a decision is reached about the Bledisloe Cup game. The outcome of when the test is played will have a massive impact as the extra games mean this issue will not be unique to 2006.

The fact a decision remains some way off highlights the divergent views of the Sanzar partners. New Zealand is prepared to put the players ahead of the dollar but the other two aren't.

Tension between Australia and New Zealand is already high after the former voted for Japan to host the 2011 World Cup and it will only increase if New Zealand is unable to get its way on this issue.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY