The sorry state of grassroots rugby

New Zealand's provincial competition is in line for a revamp next season as the big unions believe that the format is unworkable.

The expansion to 14 teams and a split-group format has failed to ignite spectator interest and provinces will lobby the New Zealand Rugby Union for changes in the 2007 competition, as the Air New Zealand Cup is fraught with commercial impediments.

Auckland, the country's richest and most successful province, could only attract 12,000 people to last week's game against Waikato at Eden Park and had another virtually empty stadium last night against Otago.

The 15,000 that turned up to watch Wellington play Canterbury last Sunday was also below expectation and Canterbury were forecasting a reduced crowd of about 12,000 for today's Ranfurly Shield clash with North Harbour.

Several smaller unions such as Bay of Plenty and Taranaki are reporting average crowds that are down on last year as well.

Such paltry numbers coming through the gate will have a significant impact on profitability and there are concerns that sponsors will reduce their commitment if spectator interest continues to drop.

While the apathy is partly attributable to the quantity of rugby, union bosses believe the late scheduling of the second round is more to blame.

The 14 teams are split into two pools of seven in the first round with the top three in each group then playing each other in the second round and the bottom eight divided into two pools of four.

The draw for the second round was made late on Sunday, September 10, giving Auckland only five days' notice they would be hosting Waikato.

Auckland chief executive Andy Dalton said he wants to give the competition a fair go before making a judgment, but he harbours real concerns about the commercial viability of the second round.

Dalton said: "I think there needs to be a full review. It is not just the crowds, there are issues around planning and booking accommodation.

"I think the format is having an impact on the middle round of the competition. Our crowd for the Waikato game was well short of expectation and our reading is that the lack of lead-in time prevented people from Waikato from organising transport.

"We would expect a fair number of people to make the trip but it just didn't eventuate."

While the major unions remain hopeful that crowd numbers will pick up for the knock-out stages and the competition may yet spring into life, concerns about the middle round are unlikely to be alleviated.

Additional problems have surfaced, such as selling corporate hospitality packages, which has proved enormously difficult on such short notice. There have been behind-the-scenes logistics dramas, too, with teams struggling to find accommodation and adequately plan their week.

The increased number of games has also created scheduling issues in the middle round, with SkyTV wanting to show every game live. The time slots of Thursday night, 6.05pm on a Friday and 12.30 on a Sunday have come into play and are proving unpopular with spectators.

Canterbury chief executive Hamish Riach said: "We have to have a pretty good review of everything in November. There have been some good things and some things that present challenges to everyone.

"I think if only 12,000 people turned up to watch Auckland play Waikato then that is a real signal that we need to look at this.

"If there are some alarming signs in year one is it sensible to go through three years or does the competition need some tweaking?"

Regardless of whether interest picks up in the closing rounds, the NZRU is going to come under intense pressure to make changes to next year's format. The crowd numbers in recent weeks are not sustainable and if broadcast ratings fall in line with both Super 14 and Tri Nations the very future of the provincial competition will be at stake.

But despite the fact it is under pressure to make changes for next season, the NZRU has given a three-year commitment to retaining the competition in its current format. Deputy chief executive Steve Tew says it would take exceptional circumstances for the union to deviate from its current plans, suggesting there may be some heated exchanges with the bigger unions at the end of the year.

"We will work through a review at the end of the season.

"We are aware of some of the crowd numbers but we are also getting good feedback from some of the smaller unions that there is a lot of excitement about the competition."