A great feature of sport is the social element it embraces. Through the years, this has applied especially to amateur sport. That is not to suggest that professional sportsmen and women do not also fashion friendships, but those involved in amateur sport have far fewer constraints for obvious reasons.

One of the most appealing elements of rugby has, through the years, been the great friendships that have been made and the great enjoyment that successive generations have received from the social aspect of the game. Many a friendship has been made between men who were tough opponents on the field, but had a mutual respect that blossomed off it.

The top tiers of rugby are now, of course, professional, and the time for social discourse is extremely limited. The interprovincials are a classic example. The days are basically gone when the interprovincial matches embraced a great social factor. Now, teams often play their matches and go home the same evening. The much more rigorous training schedules impose their own demand. Fitness levels must, of necessity, be infinitely greater than in the amateur days.

However one may regret the passing of the amateur era in some respects, there is now much more stability about the scene generally than we had in the years immediately after the advent of professionalism. It was a learning process, tortuous at times.

Nor is there any doubt that playing standards here and elsewhere have improved. We have seen a very appreciable advance at provincial and national levels in Ireland. I was discussing these factors very recently with an eminent international of very recent vintage. His comments were as revealing as they were interesting.

"One very good thing about the fact that we are now fielding professional teams at international level is that it has, to a large extent, levelled the playing field. Numerically we are always going to be at a disadvantage against the bigger powers, but we knew, particularly in recent times, that when we met some countries their players were professional in all but name. Things had got to the stage where it was just impossible to police the situation with regard to amateurism at the highest level.

"Now we are fielding teams whose players are full-time professionals and consequently have improved significantly. I think we have seen very clear evidence of that, especially over the (last) 12 months in the Munster and Ireland teams.

"The end of my career basically coincided with the game going professional. It had been moving that way for several years and I suppose it was inevitable."

But would he like to be playing now as a full-time professional?

"I honestly do not know. Sometimes I feel I would love to have played full-time and been able to devote myself full-time to the game. But then I must say I enjoyed every minute of my playing career. Of course you felt under pressure at times to retain your place, but it was still a game, and not a livelihood. That is one great difference now and it increases the pressure on players. I have always considered myself very fortunate and enjoyed every minute in the game."

Those sentiments, I am sure, are representative of the feelings of some players, probably quite a few. As fitness levels reach a new peak, the physical demands - always considerable - are greater than ever. Careers are likely to be very much shorter, certainly at the higher levels. Whether players will get as much enjoyment from the game is another factor. And while I am sure friendships will continue to be forged, there is no doubt the social side of the game continues to change.

I was reminded of that earlier this week when two great Irish players, Tom Kiernan and Dr Tony O'Reilly, were inducted into the Rugby Writers of Ireland Guinness Hall of Fame.

You could have selected a fair old Ireland team from the attendance at the function. There were internationals representing every decade dating back to the 1930s. The person representing the 1930s was that splendid man Ham Lambert, 90 years young. A dual international at cricket and rugby, international rugby referee, accomplished in so many sports and still capable of playing golf in a manner that would make him the envy of many half his age.

The function brought together six of the Grand Slam heroes of 1948: Des O'Brien, Jimmy Nelson, Paddy Reid, Mick O'Flanagan, Bertie O'Hanlon and Jim McCarthy, together with men who had played for Ireland and the Lions. Here were men happy in each other's company. Great games were replayed, old friendships renewed. They are all the products of a bygone era but they carried no regrets, only precious memories.

Let us hope that the current and future generations of the most select band of all in the game, the internationals, will have similar friendships and memories to carry into their advancing years.

As Dr Tony O'Reilly said in a speech that embraced wit and wisdom: "We were free spirits whose only contract was to enjoy ourselves." Then hitting on the theme of what the game meant and continues to mean to his generation, he added: "I hope that the players today realise that it is not just a job. There is life after rugby."