When, in 1995, rugby went along the professional road, there were great fears about aspects of the game's future. Some of those fears have proved well-founded, others have not.

Some great old clubs went bankrupt; of those, some have gone from the senior scene, some amalgamated with others to survive. It was all part of the process as rugby went from being a game to being a business at senior and representative levels.

Across the water, some businessmen moved in to take over the ownership of clubs and, of course, in effect the ownership of players. They would decide if players would be released to train and play, even for their countries. Indeed, my memory is very sharp of one of those owners, like others of his ilk long since gone from the rugby scene, telling us that international rugby was on the way out, that the clubs were the future. The very idea that the Lions and the Barbarians would survive was dismissed with absolute contempt.

Well, survive they have, and indeed the Lions have prospered. The 1997 Lions tour to South Africa was one of the most successful on record.

Now arrangements are being made for the Lions tour to Australia. Selection for the Lions is, as it always has been, a prized honour.

The Barbarians very often have to make and mend when playing matches now. The Barbarians have always tried to maintain a tradition of having one uncapped player of quality in their teams, but they would have a squad of Lions strength on the traditional Easter tour to Wales. Those days are gone because of the demands on players. It is true, too, to say that very often Barbarians matches were about exhibition rather than competition. The great exception was when the Barbarians met touring teams from the Southern Hemisphere. The level of competition in those matches was comparable to the intensity of internationals, and some of those matches were memorable to say the least. Even in these much changed times, the Barbarians invariably are able to call on teams of international strength when facing major opposition. So it is that Sunday's match with the Springboks in Cardiff could prove in the best traditions of encounters against touring sides.

The tradition of the Springboks, All Blacks and Australia completing their tours with a match against the Barbarians began in 1948 when the Barbarians met the Wallabies in Cardiff. One of the factors that enabled this match to take place was money. More money was needed to meet the increasing expenses of a touring team. The Wallabies also wanted to travel on to Canada to play matches there in an effort to propagate the game.

Thus the Barbarians committee answered the call when the Four Home Unions put the proposal to them. As a full house was guaranteed in Cardiff, it was decided that the match would take place at the Arms Park and it duly attracted a capacity crowd.

It proved to be a great match, won 9-6 by the Barbarians. Karl Mullen was Ireland's only representative on the team captained by a man still regarded as one of the best scrumhalves ever to play the game, Haydn Tanner.

The first match between the Barbarians and the Springboks took place in 1952, when the Barbarians side was captained by Jimmy Nelson. South Africa won 17-3. Now the tradition had been established that the final match of long tours - when the visiting teams played all four home countries and as many as 30 matches - would be against the Barbarians.

The match in Cardiff in 1973 with the All Blacks has gone into legend. It is still, on occasions, shown on television, most especially for what some believe to be one of the greatest tries ever scored when Gareth Edwards finished off a movement of absolute brilliance.

Another famous match that is very relevant in the current circumstances was the meeting, again in Cardiff, of the Barbarians and Springboks in February 1961. The Springboks, led by Avril Malan, had gone unbeaten for 29 matches on their tour, had won 28 and drawn one against the Midlands in Leicester. They had won all four internationals.

The Barbarians that afternoon scored a famous 6-0 victory with two tries. That Barbarians team was captained by Ronnie Dawson and included an all-Irish front row of Gordon Wood, father of Keith, Dawson and Syd Millar. Gerry Culliton was also in the pack, on the flank, and Tony O'Reilly was on the right wing.

That afternoon the Barbarians pack played superbly and more than matched a Springboks pack that had destroyed so many opponents on the tour. This was no run-at-all-costs approach; it was played to win. The match is also remembered for two great try-saving tackles by the Barbarians full back Haydn Mainwaring.

The most recent match between the Barbarians and Springboks took place at Lansdowne Road, in December 1994. Remarkably, the Barbarians team also included an all-Ireland front row of Nick Popplewell, Keith Wood and Peter Clohessy, and Simon Geoghegan was on the wing. It was another tremendous encounter won 23-15 by the Barbarians.

It is against that great tradition the Barbarians will go into their encounter with the current generation of Springboks. It is a tradition well worth maintaining.