RUGBY could be set to follow in the footsteps of soccer's Champions League and rugby league's World Club Challenge by introducing a northern v southern hemisphere play-off between the best of Super Rugby and the Heineken Cup.

The match-up between the likes of the Reds and Leinster or Waratahs and Toulouse is a salivating prospect for fans and players alike, and international rugby chiefs are behind the move and scanning the international calendar to find a suitable place for the yet-to-be determined champions format.

Champions of the southern hemisphere ... Reds captain James Horwill is chaired by team mates after the 2011 Super Rugby Grand Final. Credit:Getty Images

While New Zealand's win at the World Cup and the world rankings of Australia and South Africa have all but confirmed the southern hemisphere as the most dominant in recent years, a world club challenge could finally see the debate settled over which hemisphere's style of rugby is best - the south's running style or the north's traditional, grudging, forward-based game.

English rugby chief Mark McCafferty sees plenty of interest from clubs, sponsors and broadcasters for a match - or series - between the winners of Europe's Heineken Cup and the Super 15.