Rugby Australia will not budge on wanting five teams in a revamped Super Rugby competition.
RA has submitted documents to potential broadcast partners to secure rights fees through 2025.
Interim chief executive Rob Clark has set New Zealand Rugby a deadline of September 4 to agree on terms, or it will switch focus to a domestic-based competition that could involve Japan and the Pacific Islands.
The trans-Tasman partners appear at serious odds over the value of Australian franchises, with NZR reportedly firm on no more than four.
But Clark says five teams is non-negotiable, and Australia is willing to walk away and create their own competition.
"No," Clarke says of the possibility of dropping below five teams.
"We've been very consistent on that. We're committed to a long-term solution here.
"We don't believe a competition has to necessarily hit the ground at a thousand miles per hour and be delivering from day one.
"We believe, just like the Super Rugby competition that has been alive for 25 years and has built over time, that any competition structure we move into for the future should have a runway to it.
"That said, we do want it to be successful from the beginning and we believe we can contribute to that with five teams,"
Australia is currently running its own domestic Super Rugby competition and pundits across the Tasman have lauded the quality of the rugby.
Last week, former Wallaby Rod Kafer claimed that any of the five franchises could compete with and beat their New Zealand counterparts.
"We've been increasingly buoyed by the quality of the [Super Rugby AU] competition," Clark says.
"We've been saying this to New Zealand - that we're very confident in the quality of our up-and-coming talent."
After its 'Aratipu' review, NZR proposed a new competition from next year that would include all five Kiwi franchises, a new Pacific Island team and between 2-4 Australian sides.
But RA rebuffed the proposal and with their broadcast-rights future at stake, they have set a deadline for NZR.
"We have a put deadline for broadcast submissions, so D-day is coming," says Clark.
"We can't wait much longer on the whole trans-Tasman competition decision - the clock is ticking."
Clark has also proposed a 'Super 8' champions league, that would involve two teams each from New Zealand, South Africa and Australia, one from Japan and one from the Pacific Islands.
