With the club season now complete Ireland's build-up to August's European Championships in Germany begins in earnest this weekend when they take on Wales in two practice matches in Cardiff.

The following weekend Riet Kuper's team hosts a Four Nations' tournament at Belfield, where Scotland, England and Russia will be the visitors. After that trips to Canada, the Czech Republic and the Netherlands are pencilled in along with three more practice weekends in Dublin where Wales, Scotland and France will provide the opposition.

Such a hectic schedule has already resulted in the withdrawal of three players from the original panel due to work and exam commitments - Carol Devine (Hermes), Sandra O'Gorman (Muckross) and Anya Bowers (Trinity) - while Loughborough's Laura Brown is also expected to be unavailable for similar reasons.

While nothing is yet confirmed proposals have been made to split the 1999-2000 club season in to two separate `mini-seasons', with international players only available to their clubs in the first campaign, which would end before Christmas. Each province would then provide two teams for the All-Ireland League play-offs, the winners of each provincial league campaign (or the runner-up in the second should the same team win both).

Irish Squad: J Stewart (Ards), L McVicker (Ballymoney), K Humphreys (Bonagrass Grove), S Hutchinson, R Kohler, K O'Brien (all Harlequins), T Browne, S Hilliard, D Sixsmith, M Logue (capt), C Carey, J Burke (all Hermes), C O'Kelly (Loreto), A Thompson, K Mills, C McMahon, P Magill (all Pegasus), J Orbinson (Portadown), S Kelleher (Slough), L Caulfield (Trinity).