The clearest indication yet that Super rugby will expand in 2016 emerged from a scheduled meeting of the South Africa, New Zealand and Australian Rugby board in Sydney yesterday.
A draft proposal tabled at the Sanzar meeting will secure a sixth South African side while also including a team from Argentina.
That would lift the number of teams to at least 17 and mean a radical change of format as every available weekend between mid-February and early August is already allocated.
Both South Africa and New Zealand have ring-fenced their domestic competitions, the Currie Cup and NPC respectively, so time cannot be taken from those competitions. August and September are also allocated to the Rugby Championship.
"Today's meeting was another important step in deciding the future of Super rugby," Sanzar chief executive Greg Peters said.
"The model will now be taken to the National Unions for approval before Sanzar presents its final position to broadcasters and fans in due course."
The 15-team structure will change after 2015 when the current five-year television deal with Newscorp comes to an end.
There is a suggestion that an 18th team, possibly from Japan, could also be a part of the new structure with another radical proposal suggesting a team from Africa might also come into the reckoning. A further expansion would fit the evolutionary model of Super rugby since its earliest inception as the Super 6 in 1992.
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