All Blacks great Stu Wilson has urged the NZRU to think hard about turning the Air New Zealand Cup into an amateur competition at their rugby summit in Wellington this week.
Several provinces posted large financial losses for the past year and it looks increasingly evident the current 14 team professional competition is unsustainable.
Wilson said it was time the NZRU made some hard calls and made the Super 14 the only professional competition.
"From a population of four million there can only be so many dollars," he said.
He told said only one professional Super 14 competition was needed to feed the All Blacks.
Rugby has been on a downward spiral in New Zealand since 22 All Blacks were pulled from the first half of last year's Super 14.
That was followed by poor crowds at the Air New Zealand Cup and the signs were this year's Super 14 had continued the decline.
"TV viewing figures are down dramatically, so are attendances and that's got to start alarm bells ringing," said Wilson.
"There's the Super 14 where there's 150 paid professionals and underneath that it's an amateur game.
"You could say we'd lose so many players if we did that because they'd go overseas, but overseas teams can only take so many. They're restricted too, so it's not as if everyone's going to pack up and go to Britain to get a lucrative contract.
"You're not going to please everyone, but if you're in governance at board level you have to make some hard decisions."
Complete article
Wilson calls for end to Air NZ Cup
Wilson calls for end to Air NZ Cup
