There's a pretty big emerging story coming out of Europe at the moment. It seems that the northern subsidiary of Canterbury of New Zealand has spread itself too thin [I always had the same problem when I played Risk] and has collapsed in the current economic climate.

As a result they've pulled sponsorship of all of their European clubs. These are;

 Rugby Union:

• Ireland
• Scotland
• Cardiff Blues
• Newport Gwent Dragons
• Leinster
• London Wasps
• Esher
• Exeter Chiefs
• Bayonne
• Castres
• Clermont
• Dax
• Perpignan

Rugby League:

• Warrington Wolves

Football:

• Portsmouth
• Preston North End
• Mansfield Town
• Farnborough
• Harrogate Town
• Deportivo La Coruña
• Lille
• Motherwell

Cricket:

• Yorkshire County Cricket Club
• Hampshire County Cricket Club

We're being assured that Canterbury's southern hemisphere branches are fine, but given Line 7's recent collapse [they were related to CCC through their CEO Ross Munro, who was a shareholder in Canterbury] and the Global Financial Crisis what guarantees can be made, really?

Let's hope Aussie and South Africa don't have to play the Tri Nations naked, especially given that Canterbury's South African division has already had well-documented troubles this year... I don't think I could stand the sight of James Horwill doing the naked Dunedin thing.