Provinces offered incentives as union pushes mergers

The Rugby Union believes the time has arrived to get serious about provincial mergers.

It is encouraging smaller unions to at least debate merging with historical rivals and will put in place financial incentives to aid the process.

The union is hopeful the merger of Nelson Bays and Marlborough to form Tasman, and gain entry into this year's inaugural Air New Zealand Cup competition, will have a flow-on effect.

The situation particularly applies to the new division one, which encompasses 12 small provinces contesting the second-tier competition.

There appear to be any number of natural geographical fits for mergers, with North Otago, South Canterbury and Mid Canterbury having discussed merger proposals at various times in the past 25 years.

Nothing has come from those discussions, though, while other merger candidates are West Coast and Buller, Poverty Bay and East Coast, Wanganui and King Country, and Wairarapa-Bush and Horowhenua-Kapiti.

The issue of mergers has been around for decades, but parochialism has won out as provincial administrators protected their patch.

Despite its strong financial performance in recent years, a union provincial funding review document released yesterday made it clear the organisation's funding of provincial bodies at present levels was not sustainable.

"The NZRU does not have the financial strength to preserve current provincial union boundaries indefinitely."

The union does not want to dictate to provincial unions what was in their best interests, but it is keen to facilitate mergers.

Union chief executive Chris Moller said most provincial boundaries had remained unchanged since the late 1800s.

"In that time significant changes have occurred, including the fact considerably more people are now living in the urban areas than in the rural areas," he said.

"We believe it [provincial mergers] does need looking at but it is a matter for the provincial unions to decide themselves.

"It is not a matter for the New Zealand Rugby Union to impose but nevertheless we can set a climate that encourages those discussions on a voluntary basis."

He said the union was prepared to assist those contemplating mergers.

The review includes four significant proposals:

* A core payment to all provinces calculated on the number of registered players but targeted at the "at risk" 13-19 year age group. Provincial unions will receive $60 for each registered player in the 13-19 year age group and $45 for all other registered players. This grant will be ring-fenced for community rugby development.

* A single competitions grant for the Air New Zealand Cup unions comprising a non-Super 14 franchise grant of $250,000 (currently $110,000) for eligible unions, a salaries and services grant of $50,000 (currently known as the coaching grant) and a non-NZRU contracted player grant of $10,000 (unchanged) per eligible player.

* A new grant of $100,000 for Air New Zealand Cup unions with less than 10,000 registered players that host Super 14 franchises. This grant will be untagged and currently will apply only to Otago and Waikato.

* A core distribution for the 12 new division one unions comprised of a $50,000 grant for administrative support and the registered player grant. In 2007, the minimum core distribution will be $150,000, which will fall to $140,000 in 2008 and to $130,000 in 2009. Division one unions will also receive a salaries and services grant of $30,000, replacing the current coaching grant.

- NZPA