Rugby: Places in rugby's new first division come with a cost

For Mid-Canterbury and Wanganui, it's all about the end game when they clash in the Meads Cup final in Christchurch this afternoon.

To the winners go the title of best of the rest; that is, those outside the professional Air New Zealand Cup.

But there is an intriguing backdrop to the final.

Both teams, irrespective of the outcome of the Heartland Championship decider, are in line for promotion to the new six-team first division, due to be in place for next year as part of the rejigging of domestic rugby.

For months, the focus has been on which four teams will be chopped from the national championship to reduce it from a 14 to a 10-team contest.

Angst, not to mention anger, have been thick in the air these past few months among those fingered for the axe - Counties-Manukau, Tasman, Northland and Manawatu - and not just among that quartet either, with a handful of other unions twitchy. But those four have played their season with a bullseye on their foreheads.

The decision to drop to 10 teams was taken by the provinces well in advance of round one of the championship. Financial imperatives meant it seemed a smart decision.

But at least three of those four - excluding bottom finishers Counties-Manukau - can point to sufficient on-field improvements to warrant holding their places.

That is only a small part of the equation but in New Zealand Rugby Union eyes, they will simply be doing the provinces' bidding, implementing a plan they wanted.

That little doozy is expected to be sorted out in December. But let's say for argument's sake that the four are settled on and accept the drop.

Now look at it from the other end of the equation.

Say you are running Wanganui or Mid-Canterbury rugby.

How do you fancy stepping up a division, against teams with a solid professional background over several years, and your teams are amateur lads with day jobs, farmers, labourers, bank clerks.

Would you be armed with a sense of anticipation, or foreboding?

The chief executives of Mid-Canterbury and Wanganui admit to significant reservations. These are men who have the long-term health of their unions uppermost in their thinking.

And remember the NZRU can scarcely go to teams who finished well down the order in the Heartland Championship and with a straight face offer them places in the first division.

There is money on the table for the two unions to get them started. It is pegged in various ways, chiefly player payments. In round terms the amounts are about $765,000 for the first year, $560,000 for the second.

Sounds good at a glance, but the two unions have done some sums.

Both praised the national body for keeping them in the loop, up to date with developments. But they are uneasy.

"A lot of it comes down to our continued financial stability, whether going into an amateur-professional division could cripple us financially," Wanganui chief executive Dale Cobb said. "That's our biggest concern. That's where the jitters are."

Neither union would specifically discuss the size of the financial offer, but Cobb reckons the NZRU is offering the bare minimum to bridge the financial divide.

Finding sponsors to cover costs won't be easy.

Ian Patterson, chief executive of Mid-Canterbury, is similarly concerned.

However, he acknowledged that its Ashburton base is close enough to Christchurch that over time the local club competition could be strengthened.

In turn, that could lead to a higher quality of rugby for those going into the provincial team.

"Certainly from a playing point of view, over time we could build something that's reasonably competitive," Patterson said.

"But clearly the community would have very limited capacity to support anything like a semi-professional team, and ultimately that's where the dilemma is for us. The difficulty is whether we can build something that's financially sustainable. And that is definitely where the crux of the argument is."

Patterson said there remained some "unknowns". "We'd like all the facts on the table, in terms of competition structures, funding, things like that before we commit one way or the other."

He wondered whether the proposed new structure would be any cheaper than the existing format.

"Everyone's forgetting that we went into this originally because the current competition was unsustainable and overstretching resources in a number of ways. I don't think anything has changed."

Did he have a strong feeling Mid-Canterbury might say thanks, but no thanks?

"There's certainly that chance, no doubt about it."

It might not come to push or shove. One of these men was talking to an NZRU person a couple of weeks ago. As the issues concerning his union going up began to be discussed, the national man stopped him.

"The inference given to us was that they've got bigger issues to sort out before getting to our particular problems."

Translation: hold those tickets.