New Zealand officials made their first concessions towards agreeing to an extra Australian side in an expanded Super 12 tournament at the Sanzar conference in Perth on Wednesday.

Sanzar - the South African, New Zealand and Australian ruling body - commissioned an independent consultant to examine ways for the Super 12 to be expanded to include an extra South African team and one from either Perth or Melbourne.

The consultant's job is to develop a calendar that allows players to participate in their domestic competition, Super 12 and internationals.

Significantly, the words Super 14 and Super 16 were uttered for the first time at a Sanzar conference, although any decision must receive the support of all three boards. New Zealand have consistently opposed the inclusion of an extra team, fearing an extended Super 12 season would rob their National Provincial Championship of their best players.

Australian Rugby Union chief executive John O'Neill has pushed the expanded model heavily in Perth, saying the rugby market needed 26 weeks of top class competition each year.

South Africa support a model in which their provincial tournament, the Currie Cup, kicks off the season, followed by the Super 12 and then the Tri-Nations. Any European tours would then follow.

The New Zealand Rugby Football Union cautiously supports this proposal, but does have concerns about playing Super 12 night games in the middle of the New Zealand winter.

Australia have only three teams in the Super 12 and O'Neill has long pushed for a fourth, but refused to be drawn on where it would be based. "The choice will ultimately be either Melbourne or Perth - there's compelling and very attractive aspects from both cities," he said.

South African Rugby Football Union chief executive Rian Oberholzer (pictured with O'Neill) was equally diplomatic, saying his focus was to ensure the republic gets another team to add to their four sides, probably based in the Orange Free State, but he was also supportive of Perth's bid.

"We believe Australia should get an extra team, (and) we would like one as well. Obviously there is a huge South African expat population in Perth which would make it nice for us to play here more often."

NZRFU chief David Rutherford hinted that the New Zealanders' hard line opposition was wavering, saying there had been improved co-operation between the boards.

"We understand where Australia are coming from, but we have a problem we need to sort out," he said. "There is not much more than a week open in the season. If you have an extra Super 12 game, NPC game or Test, it stuffs you up."