On Rugby: Time was when the last day of April marked the end of the rugby season. Indeed, if competitions ran beyond that date, special permission had to be given for the matches to be played.

If and when it was given, it was usually accompanied by a message couched in specific terms about the necessity of branches completing their competitions by the cut-off date. Now the season seems to go on forever.

Back in the 1920s there was an All-Ireland play-off series between the four provincial cup winners. The semi-finals and finals were played over a weekend for The Bateman Cup. That was the original All-Ireland play-off series.

It started in 1922, ran until 1932, was discontinued for three seasons, revived in 1936 and lasted until 1939, when the second World War called a halt. The tournament was not resumed after the war, despite some vigorous attempts.

It is interesting to reflect on one of the reasons there was no competition for three years in the 1930s. It was because some qualifiers felt the season was too long as it stood. That, mind you, was in the days when, for instance, there was no such thing as a senior league in Leinster.

Another reason put forward was that there was too much rugby as matters stood and that the demands were becoming too great.

So how does that look in the context of the current position?

In those days, going on overseas tours was just not on the agenda of the rugby unions in these islands. It was, of course, before the advent of jet travel. Back in the pre-war days, the Lions tours were the only overseas international missions undertaken by the players. Then, they travelled out to the Southern Hemisphere by boat. Indeed, that was the case into the 1950s.

Ireland had actually pioneered the overseas tour by an individual country when they went to Canada in 1899. But the squad on that tour included very few first-choice international players. It was not for another 53 years that Ireland went on an overseas tour again, to Argentina and Chile in 1952. There was a nine-year gap before Ireland went abroad again, this time to South Africa. Six years later Ireland went to Australia for the first time.

From the 1970s, the touring scene changed radically as the means of travel became easier and more convenient. In the 1970s, Ireland undertook three tours. There was a visit to Argentina in 1970, to New Zealand (for the first time) in 1976 and to Australia in 1979.

Visits to this country also became more frequent. The South Africans came in 1969-70 (and what a contentious tour that was), the All Blacks played here three times in the 1970s and the Australians came in 1976.

Contrast that to the fact that, in the previous 70 years, the All Blacks and Springboks visited just five times each and the Australians only twice.

The advent of the World Cup in 1987 not alone hastened the road to professionalism, but also increased the international programme. It was followed by more visits to these islands by overseas teams and vice versa.

But professionalism has not alone brought a new dimension to the game on the field, it has also brought a vast increase in representative rugby.

Today's top players are full-time professionals, but the demands on them are great - some believe excessive. We hear about the danger of burnout, yet the representative programme continues to grow. Of course the professional game has to be financed and that imposes its own demands.

But it imposes demands not alone on players, but also on the financial resources of supporters. They know all about the erosion of support bases in the Southern Hemisphere as the South Africans, in particular, found out because of overkill.

Staying with the demands on players, since September 22nd Ireland have played 10 internationals - granted the exceptional circumstances of three games being held over from the previous season. Add in the Heineken Cup and Celtic League, a few interprovincials and in some cases the odd club appearance. Next month Ireland will play two internationals in New Zealand. That is 12 internationals in nine months.

In September, Ireland will play two World Cup qualifying matches. One will be away, in all probability to Russia, on September 21st. Then on September 28th, Ireland will be at home to Georgia in a second World Cup qualifying round. It is likely that Ireland will also play an international on September 7th as a warm-up for those World Cup qualifying games.

Thus, from last September to the coming September, the international schedule of matches for Ireland will amount to 15. Then later in the autumn there will be three more home internationals with Argentina, Fiji and Australia all due to visit Ireland.

The game can be financially rewarding for the top players, but the physical demands are immense, the drain on the financial resources of the enthusiastic spectator, equally so.