Rugby: Frustrated players save Sanzar

Player intervention is understood to have saved the Sanzar alliance.

Frustrated by the inability of administrators to strike a working deal, players from all three Sanzar nations, through their professional associations, are believed to have stepped in.

They quickly agreed on a compromise on how to restructure Super Rugby and presented their vision to administrators.

It's understood the nations reacted differently but were put under severe pressure by the players' associations to accept the deal.

Sources have said the alternative transtasman competition being worked up as a fall-back option lacked detail.

They also said it was unlikely to capture the imagination of TV executives or sponsors and that New Zealand and Australia would have been facing a significant drop in income had they gone down that route.

Sanzar executives were at an impasse over the start date of an expanded competition and how to structure games during the June test window.

Details on the new agreement will not be revealed until relevant stakeholders have been briefed but it is widely expected the competition from 2011 will have 15 teams.

Those teams will be split into three geographic conferences with decisions still to be made about where the 15th team will be based. It is also thought the new competition will start in early March and all conferences will begin simultaneously.

Details of how Super 15 will be structured during the June test window is not known. However, the Springbok players are believed to have agreed to be less involved in the early stages of the Currie Cup.

One of the major sticking blocks in the negotiations has been South Africa's desire to protect the Currie Cup and not allow the expanded Super 15 to overlap it. They have already sold TV rights for the Currie Cup.

Because the South Africans have compromised over their domestic competition, it is thought the season will run into early August and the number of games played during the June window will be limited.

The players decided they had to get involved as they had no desire to see the alliance split. While travel has been labelled a problem, the players were adamant on retaining the link with South Africa. The new format will cut the time spent away from home as more games will be played in New Zealand.

All three parties have agreed to not make public any details of the new format until they have been presented to their respective boards and agreed. That is expected to be done this week and, assuming sign-off is granted, Sanzar will then present its plans to News Corporation and other broadcasters at the end of June.

An extended Super 15 will further decrease the importance of the provincial championship as the overlap will be greater. If Super 15 runs until early August, followed almost immediately by the Tri Nations, All Black involvement is going to be zero.

Discussions are scheduled to restructure the provincial championship with the chances now high that the number of teams will be cut to build a shorter, tighter competition. It may also be time to revert to the old format of two divisions with promotion and relegation.