KEY POINTS:
Problems pitching amateur sides into World Cup combat against professional teams may see the 2011 tournament in New Zealand culled to 16 teams.
However, IRB chairman Syd Millar said a previous suggestion about dividing the series into two sections of eight teams had not been revived.
"Not at
this stage," he said yesterday.
The focus was more on streamlining World Cup qualifying matches and increasing the number of legitimate contenders for the title.
"We do have to look at whether amateur sides should be playing against the professional teams," Millar said. "And there will be a strong review of that process and where we should be heading after this year's World Cup in France.".
The IRB has been in Auckland for a few days, to reinforce their support for Eden Park as the venue for the 2011 final. The executive council met yesterday to discuss a number of proposals about overhauling the sport.
Top of the agenda was a variety of ideas about creating an integrated season - Millar said there were nine concepts up for discussion - while the laws, referees and organisation of the sport also got an airing. Getting some consensus about how best to unravel the congested season was crucial.
He hoped after yesterday that the council would have two or three strong solutions to debate.
Millar could not see the time when control of the game was handed from countries to an independent global management group.
"That is a long, long way away," he said. "Unions are reluctant to give that power up but it is changing. I think more recommendations of management are being accepted. Certainly when I first came on to the IRB, it was being managed by committee and it is not like that anymore.
"We have committees and working parties but they are led by management. It is changing, subtly.
"But the unions won't cede power easily, they jealously guard their power."
Millar thought the greatest challenges for rugby were to have relevant competitions to generate money to grow and sustain the sport. Too many games were played as revenue-generating exercises - matches like those involving World XVs.
Millar said he would prefer less internationals and often that meant better contests. Sorting out the laws was another obstacle and he also wanted referees to apply the laws rather than managing games.
"Good coaching is about reducing the complexity to simplicities and we need to reduce that complexity," he said.