Rugby: Penny-pinching makes no cents

We can only wonder what the next penny-pinching directive will be from Sanzar.

Super 14 management teams have been told to travel premium economy and to bunk up with one another in hotel rooms. If teams can travel by bus then they should and if they are playing domestically, they should travel 24 hours before kick-off not 48.

Maybe match-day venues should only have one ball available. Or hot water should be rationed, or better still, the players shouldn't have a shower at all after they play.

If they are going to get serious about this cost cutting, then maybe the Blues should hitch to Hamilton in a few weeks.

Sanzar could save thousands if it implemented all these measures. And making money is, after all, what top-level sport is all about.

So far New Zealand's franchises are doing the staunch thing, claiming these cost-saving measures are no big drama. Gary Dawson, chief executive of the Chiefs, said: "It is not optimal but it is understandable."

But is that really what they are thinking? Probably not. They are probably thinking that Sanzar is testing its credibility by proclaiming to run the best provincial competition in the world then asking people to travel the world in economy seats.

They are probably thinking that it just isn't a good look to be fretting about travel and accommodation. How much money are these measures actually going to save against the potential longer-term cost of many good management staff saying, "Stuff this for a game of soldiers"?

It's even harder to believe that Sanzar would start penny-pinching around travel, the greatest source of contention for many players. So many players who have left New Zealand in the last few years have said that the hassle of long-haul flights and living out of a suitcase wore them down after a while.

"It doesn't sound like much," says New Zealand Rugby Players Association boss Rob Nichol, "but if you have been on the road for a few weeks and you have been missing your family, little things can affect the whole team.

"If a bus is late and teams have to stand around waiting after a long flight, then it can cause that much more of a drama."

Still, things could be worse - the players could be asked to travel economy and that would be a massive issue as it would inevitably be to the detriment of their recovery and subsequent performance.

And as cost-saving strategies go, Sanzar has not come up with the most petty or meanest idea. That honour belongs to Aberdeen Football Club who took away the toaster from the player's lounge at their home ground, concerned about how much money was being spent on bread and electricity.

The Scottish Rugby Union, another notoriously grippy institution, has a litany of mean acts that almost rival Aberdeen.

Giant lock Peter Stagg found a large hole in his issued pair of navy blue Scotland socks. The union wouldn't agree to providing him with another pair until the following season and recommended using boot polish to disguise the rip.

The same union also demanded former captain Budge Pountney repay 7.50 after he gave his Scotland tie to a disabled supporter after a Six Nations game.

"I don't think it is penny-pinching," said New Zealand Rugby Union

general manager for professional rugby Neil Sorensen about the Sanzar cuts. "These measures will save hundreds of thousands of dollars."