Taranaki and Hawke's Bay have both lodged applications to join the expanded Super 15 rugby competition.

Hawke's Bay was outed this morning by The Dominion Post as filing an Expression of Interest (EOI) in wanting to establish the competition's 15th team with Taranaki entry only confirmed early this afternoon by the New Zealand Rugby Union.

The NZRU said, in a press release, the EOI applicants are the Hawke's Bay Rugby Union and a bid on behalf of the Taranaki region.

The NZRU will assess the EOI documents over the coming weeks and decide whether one, both or neither of them should be forwarded to SANZAR for its consideration next month.

NZRU CEO Steve Tew said the process invited applicants to apply to their national union in the first instance and the NZRU would give consideration to the two New Zealand bids in the coming weeks.

"We have said publicly that there is a big question mark over New Zealand's capacity to sustain and achieve success with more than the five Rebel Sport Super 14 Franchises, so that will have a bearing on our considerations.

"We will now be asking Hawke's Bay and Taranaki to provide us with very detailed business cases relating to the long-term sustainability of their bids.''

Hawke's Bay's ambitious application aims to sever ties with the Hurricanes.

The New Zealand bids are considered bombshells given the country already boasts five sides, but Hawke's Bay are adamant they have the players, cash, coaches and support to field a viable and competitive side in the Australian conference.

The Hawke's Bay Rugby Union's board ticked off and delivered its bid to the New Zealand Rugby Union yesterday.

"We are going to have a go," Hawke's Bay Rugby Union chief executive Mike Bishop confirmed to The Dominion Post.

"Whether we will be successful we don't know, but we think we have the wherewithal to meet the criteria and think it would be enormous for rugby in our region."

Bishop said the bid was not a stunt and he believed it would stack up against the inevitable interest from Australia and South Africa.

"We obviously believe there is room [for a sixth New Zealand franchise]. Rugby is thriving in our region and we want to give [our fans] the opportunity to see Super rugby locally.

"Sanzar has indicated it is looking at a proposal to go to 18 teams within two to three years anyway, so clearly it's on the radar. Why not now in the case of our bid?"

Although he was unsure exactly how much money would be needed, Bishop said the board did not see it as a major stumbling block after canvassing the union's sponsors.

It is proposed that the side be coached by Hawke's Bay coach and Highlanders assistant Peter Russell and his provincial forwards coach, Tom Coventry.

Ad Feedback The union strongly believed it had the players to compete immediately and would try to recover those sucked up by other franchises, Bishop said.

The 2008 Hawke's Bay squad provided 11 players to this season's Super 14: Bryn Evans, Zac Guildford, Karl Lowe, Hika Elliot, Arizona Taumalolo, Thomas Waldrom, Matt Berquist, Jason Shoemark, Israel Dagg, George Naoupu and Clint Newland.

Although Hawke's Bay had acted alone, Bishop said they would work with other unions within the Hurricanes franchise if required.

"The obvious ones are Taranaki, Manawatu, Wanganui, Poverty Bay. If you line them up it equates to in excess of 400,000 [people] and I think the Highlanders' catchment area is about 286,000."

The side would play at McLean Park, which has a capacity of about 24,000 and could "comfortably cope" with Super rugby.

A grandstand featuring 26 corporate lounges would open for this year's Air New Zealand Cup, and six new lighting towers were among the best in the country.

"If we look at average crowds attending Super rugby in 2009, it would suggest you don't need a 35,000-seat stadium," Bishop said.

The board had considered the travel requirements of playing in the Australian conference and did not believe they were restrictive.

"We'd still have the same number of home games as the current five franchises we'd just have them against different teams. We think our fans would jump at the chance to see the Bulls or Waratahs in town.

"There will be people who say, `who the hell do they think they are', but from our perspective if you don't try and go ahead you stagnate and go backwards."

SUPER TIMELINE

August 7: Deadline for national unions to consider bids to join the expanded Super 15

Late September: Final presentations to Sanzar

November: Decision expected

2011: Start date for the Super 15.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/2...-Super-15-race