The wait continues for some provincial unions as to where their future lies.
The New Zealand Rugby Union board made a decision at its board meeting in Auckland last week on which teams were being cut from the Air New Zealand Cup.
The union had signalled it wanted to reduce the number of teams in the national provincial competition because of financial reasons.
A NZRU spokesman said yesterday the number of teams to be cut, believed to be two or three, would be announced either late today or tomorrow.
The competition was expanded to 14 teams in 2006, but many unions had run into financial trouble and it was felt the numbers of teams had to be cut for the competition to survive.
Though the number of teams to be cut would be known within the next couple of days, the NZRU would wait until next week to publicly announce which teams would be axed from the competition.
The NZRU spokesman said the union wanted the extra time to talk to all the unions about their future and the future of the competition.
One union which appears doomed is the Tasman joint venture, with a $4 million debt over its head, and partner Marlborough signalling it wants out of the venture at year's end.
The NZRU made a commitment at last week's board meeting to give assistance where possible to Tasman.
Bay of Plenty is also under threat, due to financial pressure, which led to the laying off of staff earlier this season.
Northland has also raised doubts over its future, while Manawatu and Counties-Manakau, which have struggled to make any impact on the competition in past seasons, may also have a cloudy future.
