Intensive discussions will take place within the IRFU tomorrow before senior figures in the union decide whether to support proposals by the provincial managements to have next Friday's scheduled last round of Guinness Interprovincial matches put back to January 6th.

The rationale behind the proposal, strongly supported by Leinster coach Matt Williams and the Munster management, is that it would afford the provinces vital warm-ups for the final two rounds of pool games in the European Cup over the following two weekends in January.

Williams and his provincial counterparts regard next Friday's games between Leinster and Munster at Donnybrook, and Ulster and Connacht in Ravenhill, as largely academic, given Munster have already claimed the title and that the provinces' performances in Europe this season make it highly likely that they will again have three entrants in next season's European Cup.

Leinster and Munster, at any rate, would field far from first-choice teams. Thus, despite the union's fears to the contrary, even Guinness might be amenable to a deferral of the final round to January 6th, when both sides would be much nearer full-strength and therefore would provide a more fitting finale.

The proposal is also supported by the Irish management, in that it will afford all their leading players a weekend's rest after an intense opening three months to the season and therefore also reduce the risk of injuries before the forthcoming Tests against Japan and South Africa.

The union may be reluctant to disrupt the season's schedule at such short notice, especially as there is a full programme of All-Ireland League matches fixed for January 6th. The bank holiday weekend complicates matters as the IRFU director of rugby Eddie Wigglesworth is away, as is chief executive Philip Browne, while Stan Waldron, the chairman of the rugby committee, was stranded in Wales along with other Munster officials and supporters after the cancellation of a return ferry following the Bath game on Saturday.

Nevertheless, IRFU president Eddie Coleman vowed to have an intensive round of discussions and negotiations tomorrow morning, in order to make a swift decision one way or the other. "There's no reluctance to do it on the union's part," he said yesterday. "We will deal with it on Tuesday because I reckon we'll have to deal with it quickly."