At least the noises coming from the Pumas are encouraging. They have signed the bulk of their squad to play alongside three South African sides in their conference.
One of those should be the Kings who are assured a place at one of the conference tables but are facing persistent problems contracting staff and players.
The Kings went ahead with their latest trial game against the Bulls but only after a succession of peacemaking messages from president Daniel "Cheeky" Watson about unpaid wages and a promised sponsorship said to be worth about R200 million ($24.34 million).
Apparently he phoned all the players before the match to explain the financial shortfalls and promised they would be paid up over the weekend and that the Kings would also invest in new players. Those assurances remain unfulfilled.
As events have also unfolded, former All Black Carlos Spencer, appointed on a five-year deal in late 2013 and soon promoted to head coach, slid down the rung and has now left the team.
"We would like to thank Carlos for what he brought to the Kings during his time with us," said Watson.
"With his specialist attacking skills he was able to provide a new perspective for the players on the game and we will miss his input, but we wish him well for the future.
"In the interim, the coaching staff will be restructured accordingly and we have full confidence in their ability to manage the workload and to run a successful campaign.
"We are still in the process of finalising certain appointments within the coaching structure leading into Super Rugby.
"We're bringing in a big-hitter though and we're going to turn this union around."
New head coach Brent Janse van Rensburg has been appointed.
If the situation is unstable at the Kings, there do not appear to be any more advances with the Eddie Jones-coached Japanese side.
It's not a good look alongside the withdrawal of government backing to build a new national stadium planned as the centrepiece for Japan staging the 2019 World Cup.
The new team is owned by the JRU rather than one of the rich corporations which bankroll the local tournaments.
Japan has been placed in one of the South African conferences next year, a trip which will take the best part of a day's flying so Sanzar has agreed they can play half their games in Singapore.
The Japanese team will struggle to attract regular crowds and supporters because they will play the bulk of their games away from home at times which will not be attractive to domestic television audiences. Signing up players also remains a problem.
While the transtasman conferences are sorted, one of the gripes is that there will be a reduction in the home and away derbies which have been the most attractive games this season.
There is also another iniquity come finals time when five teams from the NZ/Australia pool are guaranteed qualifiers while only three teams will advance from the SA conferences.
Super Rugby in 2016
• SA conference 1 (3 SA sides + Argentina)
SA conference 2 (3 SA sides + Japan)
• NZ conference (5 sides)
Aust conference (5 sides)
• NZ teams play six games inside their conference, every Australian side and every team from one of the South African conferences - a total of 15 pool matches.
Finals (to be played over three weeks): Each conference winner qualifies for the finals, plus four more made up from one from the SA side and three from the Australasian side.
