The New Zealand Rugby Union says there's been excellent progress towards what it's calling a new and sustainable structure for domestic competitions.
The expanded Super 15 from 2011 is set to rule out All Blacks from the provincial champion and a two-day workship in Wellington has agreed the provincial championship must include Super rugby players.
There must also be a stand-alone window, which also recognises the windows for club and Super rugby, and be affordable and sustainable, with a full round-robin and play-offs.
They must also provide meaningful competition for the 14 Air New Zealand Cup Unions and maintain the strength of the Heartland Championship.
The Players' Association and the provincial unions will brief their stakeholders and further details of competition options will be made public next week, with a full report to all 26 unions at next month's NZRU meeting.
