MONEY, as well as playing ability, is now a central issue in playing at international level.

The issues embodied in that aspect of selection for the Ireland rugby squad were satisfactorily finalised and the new age of professionalism in the game was made official - in the Ireland context - when the squad assembled at the weekend to prepare for the International championship match against Scotland at Lansdowne Road next Saturday.

The negotiations having been completed, the lawyers consulted, terms agreed and the small print no doubt minutely scrutinised, pens were put to paper and the contracts between the IRFU and the Ireland international squad representatives were signed by 26 players on Saturday night. Ireland captain Jim Staples confirmed yesterday that the players had a legal representative on hand.

The contracts guarantee all 29 members of the squad a fee of £7,500, fees of £3,000 a match for the players who appear in each championship match and potential earnings of £28,500 for participation in this season's matches and a minimum of £24,500 for those who have played in the two matches to date (against Fiji and the United states) and will play in all four matches in the championship, even if a point is not gained in the series.

The going rate for success is £500 per point, thus an additional £4,000 on offer in the four championship matches.

Satisfaction all round was the theme when it was confirmed at a press conference at Lansdowne Road yesterday that the contracts had been signed by all but three members of the squad.

"There was no last minute hitch in that area," said Ireland manager Pat Whelan. "Everything has been completed amicably. The fact that three players did not sign is not significant or indicative of any problems."

Neil Francis missed the signing ceremony and most of the weekend training after being sent home to bed because of a chest infection on Saturday morning. Conor O'Shea did not arrive until late on Saturday night as he was playing with his club London Irish on Saturday afternoon and Niall Woods, an accountant, is required to summit the contract to the body that oversees the ethics of that profession before he can sign. "That is a formality. All three will sign on Thursday evening," said Whelan.

Francis's illness and a thigh strain sustained by wing Simon Geoghegan, which meant he did not train on Saturday afternoon or yesterday morning, were the only disruptive elements to the work on the field of play in the three sessions that the weekend of work embraced. The concluding session yesterday morning was held in camera for tactical reasons.