There is at long last movement on the vexed Argentina question.


Amid talk of a possible Pumas entry into a major competition, the IRB will pay the expenses of a consultancy company looking into the feasibility of Argentina's elevation into the Tri Nations.


This will not happen until 2009, at the very earliest, as Sanzar, which runs the Tri Nations, already has a contract with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, which ends in 2010.


The IRB has debated the Argentine issue vigorously at a regional meeting in Auckland.


IRB communications manager Greg Thomas says Argentina is a special project as it is an amateur union whose flagship team has risen to No 6 on the world rankings.


There are several contentious issues, such as the fact a majority of Pumas players ply their trade in Europe, while the logistics of broadcasting an expanded Tri Nations are not straightforward.


Thomas has hinted that, while the IRB will assist as much as possible any structural change within Argentine rugby, the ball is largely in the Argentine Rugby Union court as to whether they can successfully make the integration into a major international competition.