Highlanders boss Roger Clark wants to finalise details for the pre-season match in Hong Kong by Christmas.

The Highlanders are lining-up another French club side to replace Toulon for their pre-season match in Hong Kong next year.

A European broadcaster has blocked the Highlanders from meeting Toulon on February 6, spiking their chances of being involved in a game promoted as the clash of the heavyweights, a reflection of the champion status each team holds either side of the equator.

Following the withdrawal of Toulon, Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark said the Super Rugby champions had been working with SL Events, the organisation helping to organise the match, to arrange a replacement team from France.

"It didn't get through the IRB (World Rugby) approval," Clark said in reference to Toulon's withdrawal. "The southern hemisphere-northern hemisphere final was already owned by one of the broadcasters in Europe, so the competition owners wouldn't allow it unless they ran it."

Toulon will instead meet the Brumbies on the same weekend and face the Sharks a week later.

The change in opponent has once again robbed fans of seeing a clash of the best club teams in the world. Several seasons ago then Super Rugby champions, the Chiefs, tried to arrange a game against Toulon in France but the deal fell through.

Clark said the Highlanders wanted to embed the Hong Kong fixture into their timetable this month.

"The deadline is fast closing. In the next five to seven days (they hope to sign the deal). I have been saying that for a while, but it is obviously something we are keen to happen for a number of reasons. So we have stretched that deadline out, but it is getting to that stage where will will put some finality around it very quickly because we don't want to go into Christmas with that week of our programme not finalised."

The Highlanders, who expect to have World Cup All Blacks Ben Smith, Aaron Smith, Malakai Fekitoa and Waisake Naholo available for the match in Hong Kong, meet the Blues in their opening match in Auckland on February 26.

Clark wouldn't divulge what the delay was or how much the Highlanders hope to earn from the game. SL Events are expected to meet the majority of the costs involved with staging the match as well as negotiating a fee for both parties.

"We have put a lot of work into it and I am hopeful it will go ahead," he said.

"Any event you have is complicated, anyway, and when you have got national and international rugby boards there are a whole number of reasons ... when you are dealing with competitions across countries and trying to run an event in another country again there are numerous (things to do)."