Otago could find itself in danger of dropping to a second tier of domestic rugby following confirmation last night of changes to the national championship.
The New Zealand Rugby Union announced it had settled a collective employment agreement, including modified competitions, with the powerful New Zealand Rugby Players Association.
The deal, which runs from 2010-12, also features a reduced provincial salary cap and direct franchise contracting.
The premier division of the national championship will stay as a 14-team round robin for one more year before splitting into two divisions of seven each.
The top seven teams will form the premiership and the bottom seven the championship, with automatic promotion/relegation.
Teams will qualify for the competitions based on their on-field performance next year.
But it could mean a tricky time for Otago, which has had back-to-back 10th placings in the existing Air New Zealand Cup.
If the seven-seven split had occurred immediately, Otago would have been joined in the championship - essentially a second division - by Taranaki, Tasman, Manawatu, North Harbour, Northland and Counties-Manukau.
