"Like everything, you just have to give things time. We’re excited by the Japanese and we enjoy going up there but there’s a lot of things they need to consider obviously." SANZAAR partners Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina met in London on Sunday to discuss their position on an overhaul of Super Rugby for the next broadcast deal. The Herald understands that meeting also involved a major broadcaster. We’re a global game, we’re not kicking around in a tiddlywink competition like the NRL, which is only played in this part of the world. NSW Rugby CEO Andrew Hore But with Nations Championship (formerly known as World League) talks set to dominate World Rugby meetings in Dublin later this week, it is likely SANZAAR will reserve a final decision until Thursday at the earliest. It appears increasingly unlikely that the two-tier, 12-team annual competition will get off the ground, with promotion and relegation an ongoing sticking point for the Six Nations unions.

In that case, it will come down to the four SANZAAR nations reaching unanimous agreement on Japan's ongoing involvement. South Africa is understood to favour moving forward without the Sunwolves to lighten the travel load on South African teams, while Australia and New Zealand are said to be in favour of keeping them. Argentina's position is unknown. The Sunwolves regularly pull a crowd of 15,000 at their home ground Prince Chichibu Memorial Stadium in Tokyo. Credit:EPA The Herald understands the Australian teams - all of whom have commercial deals with Japanese companies - have made their feelings known to Rugby Australia boss Raelene Castle, but whether she and Kiwi counterpart Steve Tew can convince South Africa to soften its position is another matter. Hore said he did not so much fear the prospect of partners Daikin or NEC pulling out, but that further growth in that area would be hobbled.

"We’re a global game, we’re not kicking around in a tiddlywink competition like the NRL, which is only played in this part of the world," he said. Loading "Ultimately that means there’s opportunity for global revenue. And that means that we can feed the game using that commercial revenue." The issue is likely to come down to the dollars on offer from broadcasters. South Africa has a strong bargaining position given its broadcaster SuperSport makes the largest contribution to the broadcast pot. Adding to the complexity is that the strong competitive tension in the UK market that led to a monster uplift in the last broadcast deal has all but evaporated.

And in Australia, loyal partner Foxtel appears to have emptied the piggy bank on cricket, NRL and AFL over the past two years. The Australian Financial Review reported late last week that Foxtel's revenue in the three months to December 31 was down 11 per cent to $US562 million ($800m), while its EBITDA was 46 per cent lower at $US84 million, suggesting Rugby Australia's prospects of uplift on their last deal are not strong. Notwithstanding a weaker broadcast market, Super Rugby itself seems to be emerging from the doldrums, again posting strong ratings in its final week of clear air before the NRL starts. The Waratahs vs Reds game drew a combined audience of 131,000 - believed to be the biggest result in at least two seasons - and 93,000 watched the Rebels vs Brumbies match on Friday. On the back of a nine per cent uplift across regional and metro audiences between 2017 and 2018 and a simplified competition, there is reason to believe rugby fans still have an appetite for competitive matches. Hore maintained that the Super Rugby teams deserved a seat at the table at SANZAAR. "Our issue has always been having a governance model that allows the competition to thrive no matter where you have a team," he said.