Sarfu chief executive Rian Oberholzer admitted on Monday he is looking forward to meeting with the parliamentary portfolio committee and that it would present the Union with the opportunity to repair their public image.

He was speaking ahead of their presentation, which was requested in the aftermath of former coach Nick Mallett's blasting of high ticket prices, to the committee on Wednesday.

Oberholzer admitted he was quite excited about the meeting. "I've even told the Minister of Sport that we should set dates. I'd like us to have regular sessions so that we can inform them. We have made numerous presentations in the past," he told the Cape Times.

He also confirmed that they were aiming to clear the negative image they have after the bad publicity they received from the "Ticketgate" saga. The Natal Rugby Union set their prices at R300 per head for the match against the Australians in Durban, which would have taken them well past the R4.5 million they needed for the financial guarantee.

"If we don't ask for financial guarantees, only the Lions, Natal, Blue Bulls and Western Province rugby unions will be able to stage Tests. The money we get goes back to all the provinces. This is in contrast to a country like Australia, where the cities are asked to bid. But a perception was created that we set the ticket prices and made them as expensive as possible. The facts weren't right," said Oberholzer.

He added that the situation did not do much for the image of South African sport, nor that of making the game more accessible to the entire nation. He said that Vision 2003 was there to represent the whole country and that they would need to become the most professional sports organisation in the world to achieve it.

Oberholzer also said that Sarfu's executive committee had looked at restructuring the organisation into professional and amateur sections to maximise the potential commercial opportunities available. "There are a lot of business people that can contribute to unlocking the potential of rugby," he said.

He emphasised that Vision 2003 was not something that was only aimed at transformation in a political sense. "Everybody sees it as this huge dragon that has to be slayed, but all the provinces have bought into it. We're not talking numbers. If by 2003 we're still talking quotas, the whole vision has failed."

He concluded by saying the media frenzy over the whole Mallett saga had giving the false perception that SA rugby was in turmoil. "The perception was unfairly created that rugby was in crisis. We're definitely not being judged on the overall picture," he said

"There have been some excellent performances in the Bankfin Currie Cup and it has panned out in a very exciting way. We had a good mixture of having all 14 teams involved and then going to strength versus strength."

But he admitted the small crowds at the stadiums were of concern. "You have to ask questions when the Lions can only pack in 16,000 when they host Western Province at Ellis Park. We need to look into that. We had an advertising campaign this year to try and get more people, but we all need to sit down and discuss the matter," he said.

"If necessary, we'll have to do market research and go and ask our customers what they want. Perhaps for too long there's been an attitude of 'take it or leave it' and they've decided to leave it. The situation won't rectify itself."