As we have turned into a new year, the halfway point of the rugby season, thoughts turn to what is to come and foremost in this respect is, of course, the Six Nations Championship. Yet again the European Cup offers us some heady prospects.

But looking back over the last four months, it is remarkable to reflect on the number of matches players have already played. Obviously the World Cup added to the demands on some players, but even allowing for that it was a busy schedule.

Now as the rugby calendar grows ever busier and the representative fixture list gets ever broader, one must ask the question: just how long will players' careers last and what will be the long-term price they will have to pay? Certainly, whatever the anxieties, there is no indication of a lessening of the demands. Yes, I know players now train full-time, fitness levels are greater, but so too are the physical demands and the intensity of the game.

There was a time when the Final Trial represented the first serious rugby of the post-Christmas period. There were occasions when the teams selected for the trial caused more controversy than the actual Irish team itself. And that reminds me of a letter I received just before Christmas from a reader in Waterford. He asked when did the last final Irish trial take place and why it is no longer on the calendar.

To answer the latter question first. This is the era of the international squad. Then, with European Cup matches and the expansion of the interprovincial series to a double programme, and also with the expansion of the European Cup to a double programme in each pool and an increased number of participants, a final trial is obviously seen as unnecessary. Fitting it into the calendar would also present problems.

Bear in mind the needs of the clubs in the All-Ireland League; and the matches in the first division in the league next season will also increase. Then, even in seasons when the World Cup is not a factor, the number of internationals played outside of the championships also add to the pressure on dates, and indeed on players, and invariably there is an overseas summer tour. Add in A and under-21 internationals . . . Final Trials are a thing of the past.

Two trials took place on December 30th, 1994 at Lansdowne Road when an Irish XV played The Combined Universities Past and Present and Ireland A played a Students XV. But one has to go back to January 2nd, 1994, for the last Final Trial between those traditional rivals, Whites and Blues. In that the Whites beat the Blues 25-14. Six years on not many of the players involved are still on the scene.

The Whites team was: C O'Shea; R Wallace, V Cunningham, P Danaher, S Geoghegan; E Elwood, M Bradley; N Popplewell, T Kingston, P Clohessy, P Johns, D Tweed, C Pim, N Mannion, B Robinson. Replacement: A Rolland for Bradley.

Conor O'Shea, Peter Clohessy and Paddy Johns are the only players from that team who will be contenders for places in the Ireland squad to be selected this weekend in preparation for the Six Nations Championship and the A internationals.

The Blues team was: J Staples; T Howe, B Walsh, M McCall, N Woods; A McGowan, A Matchett; P Soden, K Wood, G Halpin, B Rigney, J Etheridge, K O'Connell, S McKinty, E Halvey. Replacements: S Jamison for Rigney; K Potts for Halvey.

Not very many of that 17-man group are still contenders for representative selection.

For at least a few of the players on the provincial teams playing in the European Cup and Shield competitions this weekend, one could say perhaps these matches are akin to a trial. But the Ireland management trio of Donal Lenihan, Warren Gatland and Eddie O'Sullivan must have their minds firmly made up about most of those who are going to be named in the squad.

In effect, what is being put together is a preliminary squad of around 44 made up of senior and A team players. After their initial gathering on January 17th and 18th, for the subsequent sessions on January 24th and 25th, we will have separate senior and A squads. Some poor performances by members of the World Cup squad and some very impressive performances by some players in the European Cup will surely be reflected in the composition of the squad.

For instance, 17 forwards were selected in the World Cup squad. Of that 17 only three were from Munster: Peter Clohessy, Keith Wood and David Corkery. When Corkery was forced out through injury, Alan Quinlan was called in. Corkery is ruled out again now by injury. Only three Munster backs were also in the World Cup squad: scrum-halves Tom Tierney and Brian O'Meara, and centre Mike Mullins.

Since the World Cup, Munster have won the Interprovincial Championship with a clean sweep and go into their match against Saracens tomorrow with a 100 per cent record. Surely that record, the good and consistent displays by several players and the contribution of Mick Galwey will be reflected in the formation of the international squad.

I hope Darragh O'Mahony and Shane Horgan will be included, along with Anthony Foley, Peter Stringer, Ronan O'Gara and Dominic Crotty, in the preliminary 44-man squad. And I hope most are in the senior panel later in the month. They all lost out in the World Cup - maybe our endeavours might have been more fruitful had it beeen otherwise. In truth, some who played in the World Cup will be lucky to make even the preliminary squad.