Former Waratahs coach Ewen McKenzie has welcomed proposals to allow overseas players to play for Australian Super 14 franchises.

The Australian Rugby Union (ARU) has agreed in principle to allow non-Australian high profile players to play for the Reds, Waratahs, Brumbies or the Western Force as soon as 2010.

Each franchise will be allowed two such players, who will be able to sign two-year contracts that would not fall under the ARU salary cap.

The move is designed to combat the player migration to Europe and opens up the possibility of Six Nations stars such as Brian O'Driscoll and Danny Cipriani eventually playing Super Rugby in Australia.

The proposals are expected to be approved at next month's ARU official board meeting.

McKenzie, who coached the Waratahs to the 2008 Super 14 final before leaving Sydney for Stade Francais, is an advocate for the ARU's move.

"It is logical, as with four Australian teams we have enough diversity to supply the Wallabies," he told the Irish Independent. "It would be great to get more bums on seats and create more interest and more revenue for the clubs.

"You hear on the grapevine that guys like Brian O'Driscoll want to play in the Super 14. Someone like that playing in the competition would have to help to raise the profile of the game.

"You can't underestimate the power and intrigue of high-profile players coming into a competition. Maybe you can have one foreign player, and the other player could be from a targeted developing nation. You don't take the player, but develop them on behalf of another country.

"We have to make the jump between not having foreign players to having foreign players. Once we make that jump, then we can start looking at the mechanics of it."