Stephen Nell

Cape Town - It's two of the toughest questions confronting South African rugby: what should the structure of the Currie Cup be from next year and how will space be found for the Kings in the Super Rugby tournament from 2013 onwards?

Rugby administrators from all 14 provinces will search for answers in a workshop at Newlands on Wednesday.

Next year the Super Rugby tournament stretches until the first weekend of August. There will be a break during June for the Test window against the Northern Hemisphere sides, with England coming to South Africa.

The upshot of it all is that competition time for the Currie Cup will be reduced and that is why there is apparently a proposal for a more streamlined structure from 2012 - six teams in the Premier League and eight in the First Division.

This year there is still a Premier League with eight teams and a First Division with six sides. However, it's unlikely that smaller unions will be keen to move towards a more streamlined structure.

"Griquas' view is that the Currie Cup should remain as it is - with eight teams in the Premier League and six in the First Division," said Griquas president Hennie van der Merwe.

That view is understandable as Griquas could find themselves in the firing line if the number of Premier League sides is reduced.

"Where will we find sponsors from if we aren't playing in the Premier League?"

Boland chief executive Piet Bergh said that his union would approach the workshop with "open minds".

"My personal view is that South African rugby is stuck with this because of Super Rugby."

Bergh is concerned that there are "preconceived ideas" that a new structure of six teams in the Premier League and eight in the First Division is the way forward.

A proposal to reduce the number of teams in the Premier League may even be a concern for some of the big unions depending on how the six teams are decided on.

The Blue Bulls, Western Province and Sharks will all be losing numerous players to Springbok duty, so it hardly seems fair that any of them should be subjected to the possibility of playing promotion-relegation games.

There is bound to be some interesting debate about Super Rugby as the Kings have been promised that they will be involved from 2013. It is believed that their position is guaranteed until 2015.

"From our side we have written confirmation that we are in from 2013," said Eastern Province Rugby Union president Cheeky Watson.

A further expansion of the tournament may be able to solve that headache, but there has been no indication that it's on the SANZAR agenda for 2013.
Both the Lions and Cheetahs are likely to be nervous about that debate.

"If you take one of the teams out, you will effectively kill the union," said Golden Lions Rugby Union president Kevin de Klerk.

He believes that home and away promotion-relegation fixtures should determine which team is best suited to Super Rugby.

Neither the Lions nor the Cheetahs will be in favour of them playing together again. Culturally they are poles apart and the concept of the Cats is viewed as a failure, even if they made Super12 semi-finals in 2000 and 2001.

Both teams also produced an improved showing compared to last year and will argue that their respective futures are bright.