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Tracking Sanzar down has never been easy at the best of times. This loose connection of old rugby enemies isn't making the job any easier.
Dubai is the venue for today's conference between the New Zealand, Australian and South African rugby bosses, which means the good oil might be in
short supply.
Then again, maybe not. The form guide says that while the New Zealanders will be tight-lipped as ever, anything might spill out of South Africa, and one way or another the media savvy Australian John O'Neill will tell everyone what happened anyway.
It is potentially a fascinating day for rugby, one that could signal a much-needed reshaping of the game, as the rugby powers consider Super 14 formats to present to their broadcasters.
Dubai could end up being all talk and no action, or it could be the launching pad for a new era.
Someone must grab hold of this wobbly professional competition and mould it into a cohesive and classy tournament. The Super 14 needs a firm hand to take control, and not the usual grubby, self-interested paw prints all over it. There are no easy answers, but a better way is worth finding.
There should be one simple issue to deal with, that of when the season starts. As O'Neill has stated, it is unacceptable to have players operating in a heat wave.
This came to a head in Brisbane where the hot and humid conditions led to Cheetahs captain Juan Smith collapsing after the game.
The climate isn't getting any cooler. This is a safety issue and paramount. Will rugby only take heed if and when someone dies?
Dehydrated players aren't the only tired troops however, because after 14 seasons, the Super 12/14 itself is shaky of leg.
The essential weaknesses can't be repaired under the current format.
For one, teams don't play at home often enough, robbing their fans of live action at a reasonable hour and limiting the revenue-gathering potential as well.
It has taken four rounds for the Blues to appear at home this year, which has given the season a surreal and distant start for their supporters. Worse still, the South African Cheetahs won't play at home until April 4, in the eighth round of the competition. That alone says this is a competition screaming out for an overhaul.
From a New Zealand point of view, the South African teams in particular have struggled to forge clear identities, rendering a lot of the competition as deadwood.
Whereas in the old days an Aucklander might have taken a reasonable interest in say a clash between Canterbury and Otago, New Zealanders don't give two hoots about a game between the Cheetahs and Reds, or the Force and the Brumbies.
When the NPC ruled, a top division side could play about 10 matches a season against rival provinces with half of those at home. Under the Super 14 format, each New Zealand side has just two local derbies (for the want of a better description) at home each year. The Super 14 benefits from its international flavour but also needs a higher local content - especially as the NPC is a fading force - and they must reduce the long-haul travel for players.
There are two potentially radical outcomes. Very audible whispers insist that South Africa may pull its teams out of Sanzar so as to compete in Europe instead, which would have timezone advantages. This is highly unlikely and the politically tangled Sarfu has publicly remained committed to Sanzar.
Should this occur, however, an Australasian rugby competition might be the best of all options, although the loss of South Africa would - initially at least - severely affect the size of the broadcasting contract and take a touch of international glamour away.
The most likely change is that a three-pool system will be introduced to increase not only the length of the competition, but the number of local derbies.
What the Super 14 would really benefit from is a longer and thus more dramatic finals series, although this would be difficult to organise across three countries. Some argue that the competition should be entirely pool-based, followed by an extensive finals series.
The big battle in Dubai will be between South Africa, which wants a sixth team, and Australia, which covets a fifth. If a pool system is adopted, it would make sense for every country to have the same number of teams.
If South Africa gets its ardent wish to have a new team based in the Eastern Cape, it should be stated loud and clear that while the development of black rugby is to be welcomed, the team itself cannot be selected on racial grounds.
Long-time rugby activist Cheeky Watson is among those pressuring for a black Super team to be formed. No matter what the good intentions, racist selections are racist selections and should be opposed.
The rugby issues aren't so black and white, unfortunately.
The Super competition was born out of necessity in the mid-1990s and rushed with good effect into action. It is not an easy beast to administer, but there has never been a decent attempt to harness it properly and there is a feeling that general interest is on the wane.
For my money, a pool-based competition running from mid-March to August followed by two months of Tri-Nations sounds like the nearest thing to a winner. The over-rated, end-of-year All Black tours to Europe should be severely culled, which in turn would give the players regular off-seasons in which to recover. This may not be financially ideal, however, and I've not heard a groundswell of opinion in favour of a longer professional competition either.
The problems with the current set-up are an itch no one knows how to scratch but, to my mind, not enough is being made of the old rugby rivalries in this country. They have been sacrificed for the greater visions and we are all the poorer for it.
Which brings up the subject of including Asia and or Argentina in the Sanzar plans - another subject apparently on today's Dubai menu. There may be noble and commercially sound reasons for this, but I can't see this expansionist concept reinvigorating the game in New Zealand.
Questions abound, satisfying answers are in short supply. Fitting in decent international contests outside of the standard Tri-Nations fare remains a problem and may limit the scope of a Super 14 revamp.
The presence of the decisive and clear-minded O'Neill - a man apart from the standard rugby administrator - is one cause for optimism in this confused cauldron. Yet commercial considerations will rule, which limits the options. If only rugby had some of that Dubai money.
