Rugby: French key to Pumas' Four Nations bid

England and Stade Francais' James Haskell. Photo / Getty Images

One part of the Pumas puzzle has been fixed but the Sanzar nations still believe they will have to take a massive leap of faith to let Argentina enter a Four Nations tournament in 2012.

The IRB are expected next week to ratify a US$2 million annual payment to Sanzar to compensate them for bringing Argentina into the fold. But money has never been the deal breaker for the Pumas - it is their ability to access their best players.

Doubts remain this will happen as smoothly as Argentinian administrators and others hope.

As part of their conditions of entry to a Four Nations in 2012, Argentina have to demonstrate that they will be able to field a competitive side. A key component is building long-term domestic structures that develop home-grown players.

"They have done an enormous amount of work on that front," says New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew. "The administration in Argentina has greatly improved and they have development programmes and talent identification programmes in place.

"There will also be an Argentinian side in South Africa's Vodacom Cup. It's going to take time, though, for these programmes to take effect, which means there is a second part to this. Many of the current best players are based in Europe and they need to be able to get them out to play."

This is the area causing the most concern. The bulk of what Argentina would consider to be its strongest XV are based in France.

Former Pumas halfback Agustin Pichot, who used to play for Stade Francais in Paris, has been working closely with the French clubs in his capacity as Argentina's high performance director. He's confident that the Top 14 have an appreciation of what is being asked - to release their Argentinian players for six Four Nations tests.

The expanded tournament will run from late August to early October, which clashes with the European club season which begins in August.

The Argentinian business plan includes compensation money to the affected French clubs and any new contract signed by a Puma to stay in France will have specific, detailed clauses written in about being released to play in the 2012 Four Nations.

But while all this sounds promising, the reality could be a little different.

In the last 12 months, a number of leading English players have signed for French clubs believing they had water-tight contractual agreements about being released for training requirements.

The French clubs are obliged by the IRB's Clause 9 to release players for Six Nations matches but any other request for players to attend to extra international training camps have to be negotiated between the player and his club.

Current England flanker James Haskell signed for Stade Francais last year believing he had a deal that would allow him to attend England training camps that fell between Six Nations matches.

But his club demanded he play for them last week in a crucial match against Toulon while England kept him in camp. Stade Francais threatened consequences as a result of him missing the game and the row continues.

The issue highlighted the fraught nature of balancing the needs of privately owned clubs and national bodies and has heightened fears there will be much bigger dramas when it comes to leading Pumas being released.

"That's obviously a concern," says Tew. "Clubs can apply all sorts of subtle pressures and it creates all sorts of difficulties. But at some point we are going to have to make a judgement call and be prepared to take a leap of faith to let Argentina join."

The Sanzar nations are trying to bolster their position by pushing for the official player release window to be extended. They are trying to persuade the IRB to extend the period during which clubs have to release players to cover the Four Nations.

Player release issues do not exist currently for either the Six Nations or Tri Nations. Australia, New Zealand and South Africa don't pick players from offshore, so they are all automatically available for test duty and the same is true in the northern hemisphere.

Argentina's entry will change that, which is why Sanzar is trying to make the amendment. Tew, though, says the proposal has so far gained little traction and is likely to be rejected, leaving the Pumas and Sanzar reliant on the leading French clubs doing what they say they are going to do.