The Super 14 rugby competition may be expanded to incorporate a top six finals series next year.
The series was proposed today at a meeting of the Sanzar (South Africa, New Zealand and Australia) partners.
Sanzar said the top six playoff was viewed as stage one in a plan to increase the competition's "footprint across member countries".
The competition, which has run since 1996, involves semifinals between four teams ahead of the final.
The proposal will be forwarded to the individual national unions and major stakeholders in the Sanzar countries for their consideration.
Sanzar said its board members also absorbed a number of ideas around alternative competition structures when Super rugby is revamped -- potentially from as early as 2010, to include further teams.