A new collective contract agreement should settle any issues over provincial unions paying All Blacks.
The debate over how much unions should pay All Blacks came into focus this week when Hawkes Bay confirmed it would not be contracting hooker Hika Elliot for the coming season.
Elliot had played more than 50 games for the union but Magpies chief executive Mike Bishop had argued because Elliot was likely to be an All Black, it made no sense to sign him.
There was no use spending money on a player if they played limited minutes for the province, Bishop said. The union also wondered what shape Elliot would be in at the end of a long Super 15 season.
Elliot has now found himself without a union to play for, but Fairfax Media yesterday said New Zealand Rugby Union chief executive Steve Tew had questioned Hawkes Bay's stance, saying it had already signed All Black prop Ben Franks.
The issue has been simmering away for years but has slowly escalated as the playing window becomes more condensed and top players become rare sightings at a provincial level.
In 2007, the Otago union paid more than $300,000 to have four All Blacks on its books - Anton Oliver, Nick Evans, James Ryan and Carl Hayman - yet none turned out for Otago that year.
Changes have been made and the NZRU now pays up to $35,000 to unions for each All Black on their wage bill.
Player wages at provincial level are set at a maximum of $60,000 and a minimum of $15,000.
Otago has All Blacks Ben Smith and Tamati Ellison on its books. Both played for the Razorbacks last year along with the departed Adam Thomson.
Otago Rugby Football Union general manager Richard Kinley said although it was yet to be confirmed, one part of the new collective contract between the players and the NZRU was to have this amount increased.
A retainer would be paid by the NZRU to All Blacks for a provincial contract and, if the national players did go back and play for their province, the province would pay on a game-by-game basis.
Negotiations between the New Zealand Rugby Players Association and the NZRU have been going on since last year.
Contracting has already changed, with Super 15 franchises now directly making contracts with players.