Well look guys, they've got to go somewhere! Its either they join the Six Nations and essentially kill the game at home in Argentina because all of their players have to play in Europe...or they join SANZAR and they have to choose a stadium in Australia or something to play the extra game.
And to those who complain that the Bledisloe cup would be devalued I, say, TOSH! The four nations became five became six and fixtures such as the Calcutta Cup and Millennium trophy are still raw and brutal rivalries full of competition, gusto and guile.
To suggest that because some Argentines joining would mean that Australia and New Zealand wouldn't have as big a rivalry as before is just rubbish.
The problem we face gentlemen isn't about old mens clubs north or south. It isn't about television revenues (no matter how slowly they shrink in SANZAR) , nor it is about sporting rivalries being soured.
It is simply the fact that if Argentina join either the Six Nations or the Tri Nations, there will be pain.
Nobody has thought out the slight problem that there aren't that many flights going out of Canberra, Wellington and Pretoria (or Tswane-I-can't-pronounce-it-properly) a week. Argentina is a stepping stone too far for the existing three already on an exhausting Super 14 and Tri Nations jet lagged schedule.
There is the idea that each nation could take turns in hosting the tournament with each nation still taking an equal cut of the television revenues, but then that is still unfair as one nation will still take home all the ticket sales. While this would be Christmas on earth every 4 years for a cash strapped Argentina, it wouldn't be music to SANZAR's ears at all.
The other option is for Argentina to go to the UK and Europe and play there instead. Six become Seven, Argentina play in Barcelona, English fans get two sunny holidays instead of the existing one in Rome, perfect.
Not quite. The damage done to the already fragile club game in Argentina would be irreparable. The urge to move the best players to Europe would be even stronger as, lets face it, it's cheaper having them already in Europe than having to fly them up.
Also it'd just be empty in Barcelona. Unless Argentina can rally the local Catalan rugby fan base onto their side (pretty difficult as Argentinian ex-pats in Catalonia treat the Catalans like 2nd class citizens anyway) then most likely, you'll be expecting the vast majority of fans there to be away fans. Remember that Argentina is still an emerging economy on the world stage. Millions lost their life savings at the turn of this century, paying for expensive rugby tours across Europe (or SANZAR) is definitely out of the question for the vast majority of fans in Argentina.
And then there is the problem with the most disorganized, dysfunctional and retarded match schedule in world sport today. Yes SANZAR and the Celtic nations can crow at us in England, France and Italy because they, at the turn of professionalism, grabbed the thorny issue of schedules by the horns and beat it into an utter pulp to shape a structured season.
Sadly for England, France and Italy, whose archaic, Victorian schedules, urged on by the quest for more money led by the Club owners and the RFU is so out of step with the rest of the Rugby world, that it is starting to harm the national team's chances on the global stage. English rugby can barely manage a Six Nations right now. A seventh nation added would break the camel's back.
Essentially, however you look at it, Argentina would only be able to enter either the 6 or Tri nations along with wholesale change for the incumbent nations. England, France and Italy would have to come up with a properly structured season. SANZAR would have to agree wholesale change to the very point and reason that the Tri Nations is held.
We are at a crossroads gentlemen. We may try stick to our vested interests, jealously guard our gradually shrinking pot of television revenues and try and hold back the tsunami.
Or, we may take a risk, like SANZAR and the Celtic nations did in 1996 and change the rugby world forever.
What choice we make? That has yet to be seen. I can only hope it is the latter.
Edit: It might be interesting to point out that Canada, the USA and Argentina are to go fully pro and form their own Super 14 style club championship. The man behind this move. None other than Kevin Roberts, the man who masterminded New Zealand's groundbreaking sponsorship and kit deal with Adidas.
However a pan America nations series would be an insult to the Sixth best rugby nation in the world: Argentina. If that was foisted upon them, especially after the fiasco in the rigging of the World Cup 2011 venue vote, I don't know how much credibility we, as the top ten rugby nations would have left in the bank with the developing rugby nations.