The inaugural International Rugby Summit, IRS 2000, ended on a high note in Johannesburg yesterday with a broad selection of views on what the future holds for the game of rugby union.

The congratulations continued to flow in for the South African Rugby Football Union, who "grasped the initiative" and set up a summit that was the brainchild of former Springbok flyhalf Dawie Snyman.

But the delegates can probably be put in two main categories - those who feel the game is on the right track, but need to maximise its potential, and those who have warned that rugby union is running the risk of going down the same road that rugby league has been on.

Overall the summit was hailed as a huge success, with all delegates expressing the need for this to become an annual event.

Proceedings were concluded by Stephen Baines, CEO of the International Rugby Board, who said rugby union is now a business and it is up to administrators to maximise the potential of this opportunity.

Baines was one of a number of delegates that congratulated SARFU for "grasping the initiative" in organising the summit.

The IRB's CEO said a number of key issues came to the fore during the two days of the summit. The most important of this was that "rugby is a business" and that administrators need to maximise the potential and need to run rugby in such a way that the "business" would make money.

"Francois Pienaar talked of the potential in our game," Baines said. "Whether we achieve that potential is in our own hands.

"Secondly, we must apply professionalism to this organisation in order for it to succeed. It is also clear that partnerships are the way to go in the future. By aligning yourself with the right partners, you can truly become a powerful force.

"Growth is also paramount and like delegates said, numbers are the lifeblood of the game. Added to that is the fact that globalisation is a priority in order to achieve those numbers. We now have 92 member unions, but so many regions are still underdeveloped.

"Regions like Asia, China and the United States are the markets of the future, where there is a lot of potential waiting to be unearthed. It is clear that the global game is gathering pace.

"But it was also very clear from the summit that the needs of the professional players must be of paramount concern to administrators. They are our key assets and we must never lose the balance between administering the professional and amateur sections of the game.

"And as we saw from the various presentations by delegates, television will continue to play a critical role," Baines said.

Day two of the summit also had a number of delegates, representing television corporations around the globe, talked about what most people agree, would remain rugby's main source of income - broadcast rights.

Ian Frykberg, of IS TV and Newscorp, said that while the Internet is perceived as a future source of income for rugby, traditional broadcasters "would remain the principle form of revenue".

Mark Sibley of Octagon SI, who said it was "unlikely the Internet would have a significant affect on television in the next three years", supported him in that view.

"I can't imagine a world without the Internet and I don't know how much money there will come from that as a source of revenue," Frykberg said. "At some stage the Internet may rival television, but the traditional broadcasters would for the foreseeable future remain the principle form of revenue for rugby," he added.

Russell MacMillan, the CEO of Supersport, defended the position of pay-TV in a market that is regulated more and more by governments. He said that it should be left to the sporting bodies to decide to whom and how they wish to sell their broadcast rights.

He said that certain factors need to be considered when rugby bodies decide to whom and where to award their broadcast rights. This include the financial needs of rugby organisation, the exposure that the various companies can provide, the regulatory environment in which they operate and the marketing structure of the various network.

Oliver Power, CEO of Sportal SA and owners of Sarfu's website, said that the Internet as a "mass market media" is a viable entity. "Currently the income is not as big as some would like it, but the potential is there," he added.

He pointed out that if utilised properly, it would be able to earn enough revenue from "advertising, sponsorships, the sale of tickets through websites, online stores (for rugby merchandise), auctions, fantasy leagues and even gambling".

For the second consecutive day a delegate at the IRS 2000 raised "serious questions" about the direction in which rugby union is heading.

Following the warning issued by the International Rugby Board chairman Vernon Pugh on Monday, that rugby union is "perilously close" to going down the same road as rugby league, Carris Thomas of the Hyder Rugby Index Project said on Tuesday that officials should consider "tinkering with the laws".

Thomas, a Research Fellow at the University of Wales Institute and having produced a range of papers on refereeing and team performances, said rugby union is facing a future of "two different games in one sport".

He said there is the upper end where the professional players are playing and then the grassroots end where the run of the mill players are active. And because the players at grassroots level don't always have the same facilities and opportunities as the professional players, are not suited to the rules that are currently being applied.

Earlier Cobus Kotze, the managing director of South African Investments Limited (Sail), vehemently denied that his organisation plan to "take control" of South African rugby or "manipulate" their brands. He made these remarks in his presentation at the IRS 2000.

Sail was earlier this year the centre of a much unhappiness during a provincial revolt, with fears being expressed that their involvement in nine of the provinces could result in them gaining control on a national scale.

Sail started their investments into provincial unions when they acquired 50 % of the Blue Bulls Rugby Union in 1997. They have subsequently also bought up shares in seven other unions - Western Province (40%), Border, Northern Free State, North West, Falcons, South Western Districts and Eastern Province (all 24,9%).

When the provinces put their complains before SARFU earlier this year, one of the biggest gripes were the motives and extent of Sail's involvement.

However, Kotze on Tuesday defended his company's involvement in "multi-ownership of club". He said it was not their intention now or ever to "manipulate" their brands (the unions).

"We obviously do want to protect our brands and we look for returns from our commercial brands (i.e. the unions). But we don't want to control rugby, it is wrong to suggest that," he said during his presentation to the summit.