It is not so very long ago that the rugby season ended on the 30th day of April and that closing date was almost set in stone. If a competition looked likely to extend beyond that date, special permission had to be obtained and it was by no means always easy to get it.

An end-of-season finish in April was not just based on tradition, it was actually written into the laws. I can remember at least a few instances where the argument had to be strenuous and the case compelling before permission was obtained to go outside the finishing point.

That law did not just apply in Ireland, but in England, Scotland and Wales as well. France was the exception among the countries that contested the Five Nations Championship. But the French always had a facility for doing things their own way. In many respects they still have.

Well the old order in that and so many other respects has changed quite dramatically. The alterations in that area came about after the game went professional in 1995. For the full-time professionals in the provincial and national squads it is now a few weeks off from training and then back to work. The lazy days of summer are no more for the representative player.

These have been five traumatic years on the field and off of it. No real need to elaborate on that. Suffice to say a high price was paid for many of the mistakes made, most notably in England when players acted on the promises of club owners that were never likely to be, nor were they, realised. Nor were we immune from problems and mistakes here.

Now as we come to the end of a season that has seen a truly remarkable and very welcome upswing in Irish rugby, It is time to take stock. There are encouraging signs even in England where, since the advent of professionalism, there has been ongoing infighting, controversy and turmoil, that we now have more much needed stability in the game - even if it is not all sweetness and light. But in very many important respects, matters in this country are infinitely better than in most countries. A 16-club first division in the AIL next season, though, is not in the best interests of Irish rugby.

Yet, as we stand at the end of the season, could we ask for a better finale than the prospect of going to Twickenham tomorrow to see Munster contest the final of the European Cup? What a marvellous campaign it has been - and people with no more than a peripheral interest in rugby are totally behind the team just as the nation was behind Ulster last season.

Let us reflect, too, on the acute disappointment that pervaded the scene after Ireland's defeat by Argentina in the World Cup. Move forward a few months and think of the mood after the ignominious defeat by England.

Who leaving Twickenham on that dismal February afternoon would have suggested that Ireland would turn things round as happened. There came those great wins over Scotland and Italy and then that magical afternoon in Paris - Twickenham had been banished. Yes, we lost narrowly to Wales, but three wins out of five matches represented not alone a great swing in fortune but a good return from the season and the initial Six Nations Championship. Let us give credit then to all concerned.

At the lower levels, too, things have been very encouraging and that is very important in the context of the future for Ireland.

Four wins out of five were achieved by the A team who won the championship and Triple Crown under the guidance of the Munster coaching duo of Declan Kidney and Niall O'Donovan.

The under-21 team had three wins from the five championship matches and the under-19 side was cruelly unfortunate to lose in injury time to Australia in the World Cup having played most of the match with 14 players. But Ireland still finished in fifth place after a splendid win over South Africa.

The Schools team scored a great win over England in Banbury, lost away to France (again playing for much of the match with 14 players) and the gave a fine display to beat Wales 20-5 in Lansdowne Road.

One unsatisfactory aspect of that match was the poor attendance. The Schools side deserves better than to play before a crowd of under 2,000. I just cannot understand why it is that schools cup matches draw such great attendances, yet when it comes to internationals, especially those played in Dublin, the Schools team gets such meagre patronage.

It was not a vintage year for the Youths (under-18) team who won one of the matches in the triangular tournament, but overall Ireland's results in the international arena have been sufficiently good to offer every encouragement for the future.

The Ireland squad will set out next week on their tour of Argentina, the United States and Canada. None of those countries is new territory for Ireland. It will be the third visit to Argentina (following the 1952 and 1970 tours) the third to Canada (the first in 1899 and the second in 1989) and also the third to the US (1989 and 1996).

It should be a tour in which Ireland will be tested - coming as it does at the end of a long and arduous season - especially against Argentina. But it will provide the young players in the squad with very useful experience and help in their ongoing development.

In the interim, tens of thousands will flock to Twickenham tomorrow to support Munster. Let us hope the great European adventure will end in triumph. If that comes to pass, then it will be one of the great days in the history of Munster and Irish rugby. And Twickenham in the year 2000 will not be remembered for what happened in February but on a day at the end of May.