The Otago Rugby Football Union can see the advantages of a proposed transtasman rugby competition but wants more financial details relating to any move in that direction.
A new competition mooted this week as a replacement for the Super 14 would involve nine New Zealand provincial sides and five Australian sides.
The teams would play from March to November, and would play two round-robins.
The competition would also involve a Heineken Cup-style tournament, with top teams from other countries, such as South Africa and Japan, playing.
The New Zealand provinces involved are: Auckland, North Harbour, Waikato, Taranaki, Wellington, Hawkes Bay, Canterbury, Southland and Taranaki.
After attending a meeting of union representatives in Auckland yesterday, ORFU chief executive Richard Reid said discussion had been mainly philosophical on the advantages of returning to provincial colours instead of sticking with the five Super 14 franchises.
There was a good argument that provinces had tradition on their side, with a history going back more than 100 years, while the Super 14 franchise model had been around for only 13 years.
New Zealand Rugby Union representatives were present at the meeting, and Reid said they had listened to the arguments and would do some research.
The NZRU earlier this week came out against the proposal, saying it did not envisage a future without the involvement of South Africa.
Reid said the Otago union could see merit in the respective cases of the provinces and the franchise, but it needed to see financial data.
He said the proposed competition was just one of many ideas circulating at the moment.
