It would actually be just what the doctor ordered to bring some life to the Tri-nations. This year`s comp. was a bit of a farce really- for us SA`s there is nothing bigger than a game vs. the old enemy, NZ- the rivalry goes back some 100 years, even though it`s been heavily in NZ`s favour over the last 10. That said, playing the AB`s 3 times per year, every year, is beginning to devalue the importance of the big match IMO- just look at some of the half-full stadiums towards the end of the comp. this year.
Now, if we could add Argentina and a PIRA team, making a SH 5-nations, with each team playing 2 home games and 2 away games each year, and rotating home advantage on a yearly basis like the old NH 5-nations, then that would certainly bring some spark to the comp. Imagine having only 1 SAvs NZ, Aus vs SA and NZ vs Aus game every year- all of a sudden the big game just got even bigger.
Added to that, the Argies and the PIRA team gets some extra game-time, and extra exposure ensuring extra revenue, and you get a situation whereby the global game is the winner as the gospel of rugby gets spread to football-mad South America.
A nice idea in theory, but once again, with the current NewsCorp deal running until 2010, don`t expect any changes soon- in fact, next year the 3N reverts back to a 6-test format in deference yto the RWC, but for 2009/10 the format is back to 9 tests. Would be interesting to see what happens when the current broadcast deal runs through, though.