The New Zealand Rugby Football Union (NZRFU) is surprised to learn the International Rugby Board (IRB) has concerns about them being a sub-host for the 2003 World Cup.

NZRFU chief executive David Rutherford said on Wednesday his organisation had thought it had resolved matters late last year with the IRB over the Cup.

An Australian newspaper on Wednesday said that Australia could become the sole host as a behind-the-scenes wrangle between the NZRFU and the IRB approached crisis point.

The Daily Telegraph said the IRB had called on the NZRFU to shift their National Provincial Championship (NPC) from its traditional end-of-season timeslot to ensure a rugby-free landscape for the October-November staging of the game's showpiece tournament.

But New Zealand officials, whose unrelenting desire to protect the NPC was behind their decision to stop an expanded Super 12 series, are refusing to budge.

The newspaper sources suggested the row had escalated to the stage where the NZRFU had threatened to relinquish its sub-host status, rather than tinker with the NPC's timing.

The Daily Telegraph also understood leading commercial interests were abuzz with speculation that the official announcement of the World Cup draw, set for March 12 in Sydney and detailing the match schedule and venues, had been postponed.

"The issues that have been the stumbling block between NZRFU and the IRB have been over the Air New Zealand NPC and commercial matters, which need to be confidential at this stage," Rutherford said on Wednesday.

"The IRB had concerns about the overlap of the 2003 NPC with the World Cup. Originally the IRB wanted the NPC either cancelled in 2003 or completely moved to another time in the year.

"That would be disastrous for New Zealand rugby as the competition is the backbone of our game and because the NPC brings in about $20 million a year into provincial union coffers and to move the NPC back would severely impact on club rugby.

"The NZRFU came up with a compromise with the end of the NPC overlapping only the start of the World Cup and thought it had agreement with the IRB about this last. In December we were informed that the matter would be discussed at a World Cup Ltd board meeting.

"In December the Australian Rugby Union and the NZRFU also agreed to a sub-host union agreement and this was sent to the IRB for approval."

Rutherford said the NZRFU received communications from the IRB on Wednesday suggesting a number of compromises over the NPC issue.

These included not having the NPC extend for more than 10 days into the World Cup, that there is at least one clear day between World Cup matches and NPC games, that World Cup venues are not used for NPC matches and that there be no "bundling" of tickets between Rugby World and NPC matches.

"We will work though these ideas to see if they are achievable and are confident of resolution on the NPC matters provided a reasonable approach is taken all round," Rutherford said. "The difficulties over commercial matters have yet to be resolved."

Rutherford said the NZRFU was also disturbed that those involved in the organisation of the World Cup seemed incapable of keeping significant commercial issues confidential.

"It's interesting that we hear of these issues through the Australian media before the IRB communications arrived this morning.

"The NZRFU expects the IRB to investigate the latest leak to the Australian media as only a small number of people know this information. We also expect them to take firm action against the source should they find it." - Sapa