ANOTHER season on the horizon and, while anticipation hangs in the air, so also there is more than an element of trepidation about where exactly the game is going and what the effects will be of the traumatic changes that have overtaken rugby.

Twelve months ago rugby union officially and, may I say, unfortunately embraced professionalism. This has brought with it greatly changed attitudes and a dissipation of loyalties at every level. Whatever the advocates of professionalism may say, it should be borne in mind that such a happening was not the preferred choice of the vast majority within the game.

The views and principles of the majority is not of trivial importance and should not be dismissed as the bleatings of a conservative element hide bound by tradition. The majority represent the lifeblood of the game.

Last season payment was officially permitted at representative level this season it is also play for pay at club level and, as was inevitable, Ireland has lost most of the home based players in the national squad to English clubs.

What the money men term market forces have prevailed.

The clamour for money at club level has been fostered and nurtured by the intrusion of wealthy businessmen in England, whose motives are open to question and that is a cause for anxiety in several respects. Rugby's tradition has been hijacked and sacrificed on the altar of wealth and greed.

Sport has always had its quota of those who seek power and influence through money, with little or no knowledge and less care about the ethics of the sports they invade. Rugby has given these people a licence and is now fair game for that element and the spivs who have long cashed in and exerted their influence on professional sport. We will await developments with some considerable interest.

One wonders if the enthusiasm of these captains of industry will be maintained if their clubs fail to get success and the kudos that come with it. It will be interesting, too, to see if those who have sought fortune I hesitate to suggest fame in the English game will, in fact, reap the rich harvest they envisage and find life outside the game congenial.

As we are currently witnessing, the unedifying greed has among other things put the International championship as we have known and loved it for over 100 years in jeopardy. Those at Twickenham who have done that will forever stand indicted by their actions. Their attempt to sell what is not their property is worse than the actions of the spivs who sell their wares in the black market. Rupert Murdoch and his accomplices in Twickenham are worthy bed fellows.

That is the background against which we must face the future, and we must do that with the fervent hope that those in this country and elsewhere who really have the interests of the game at heart and who have contributed so much to it on a voluntary basis will prevail.

The fixtures for the season are outlined here, but they must be viewed in the context of current events. Foremost in that respect is the doubt about England's participation in the Five Nations series. Unless the mercenaries at Twickenham are halted in their attempts to sell the game to Murdoch, then not alone will the International Championship undergo radical alteration, with a home and away series between the other four countries, but the matches involving England at A, Under 21 and Schools levels will also be cancelled.

If the status quo is maintained, then Ireland will have seven internationals this season, with the visit of the Australians in November awaited eagerly. They are scheduled to play six matches here one international, matches against the four provinces and one against Ireland A.

That A match may not take place, as the Australians may instead play a match in Wales, with Ireland getting a match against the All Blacks next season in exchange. If the Wallabies do not play Ireland A, the match between Leinster and Australia will be moved forward a day to November 19th.

Ireland will also have Western Samoa and Italy as visitors, and thus three internationals in preparation for the championship.

The mass exodus of Irish players to England has had its effect on the provincial teams, and the interprovincial series now takes place in September and the first week in October. Sadly the Exiles are a casualty of the new order in the restructured season. The interprovincial series has a value, but that value has been considerably diminished.

The European Cup, started with such success last season, now includes sides from England and Scotland, and that means that five teams are in the four groups. The new European Conference gives Connacht a place in Europe.

There is a full programme of representative matches at all levels in a crowded itinerary.