That is one of the key recommendations in the long-awaited men’s pathway and competitions review.
The report, which was expected to be released by the end of last year, has been leaked to The New Zealand Herald.
One of the three key recommendations is to merge the five New Zealand Super Rugby clubs with their respective provincial unions.
Should New Zealand Rugby (NZR) adopt the proposal, the Highlanders and Otago would become one entity again.
They would field a team in Super Rugby Pacific and a semi-professional team in the National Provincial Championship.
The Blues, Chiefs, Hurricanes and Crusaders would do the same with their respective unions.
The fans’ experience would be the same, but the "decision-making, resource allocation and player development plans would all come under one roof, determined by one executive and one board sitting across both teams," the Herald reported.
That would represent a return to how the teams were run previously.
The Highlanders and Otago formally separated in 2010. Since then, they have operated independently of each other.
It is unclear how you would merge a commercial organisation like the Highlanders with a community-focused operation like the Otago Rugby Football Union (ORFU) now.
ORFU chief executive Richard Kinley declined to be interviewed, but in a short email confirmed NZR received the report in December.
"It included three key overarching recommendations," he wrote.
"The report also confirmed that the National Provincial Championship is a valued and unique competition for rugby in New Zealand.
"NZR is now in discussions with stakeholders ... re the recommendations, with work commencing this year to establish clear pathways for developing rugby players and a financially viable domestic competition that engages fans.
"As part of the report, each of the recommendations contained a number of suggestions and potential options for NZR and stakeholders to consider.
"Until further work is completed it would be inappropriate for me to comment on specifics."
Highlanders chief executive Roger Clark did not respond to an interview request.
The independent review was commissioned by New Zealand Rugby to determine the best competition structure in the future — and to make some savings.
The bloated New Zealand rugby landscape features 19 professional men’s teams playing in two separate competitions.
NZR recorded a loss of almost $9 million in 2023.
The Herald reported the Super Rugby clubs had been left stunned by the recommendation, which they felt came out of left field.
"They say the research to make the other two key recommendations in the report — to build a clear and consistent talent development pathway and to continue with a 14-team provincial competition — were extensively researched and analysed, but the third key recommendation was never discussed and seems to have been aired more as an opinion rather than a finding," the Herald wrote.
"[It] has sparked concern about whether NZR has an excessive culture of commissioning needless reports, the findings of which are rarely acted upon."
