IRELAND, England and Scotland must wait until October 1998 before knowing what they will meet in the qualifying round of the 1999 World Cup.

The draw for the preliminary rounds was announced in Cardiff yesterday, but such is the size of the entry that two prequalifying rounds will have to be played before the opponents for Ireland, England and Scotland will be determined in round C.

As rounds A and B are not due to be completed until October 1998, Ireland will not be involved until then in round C and that is due for completion in November. England, Ireland and Scotland are effectively seeded in the qualifying competition as they are the only European nations who get automatic entry to round C of the series. Nor can they meet as England will be in pool A, Scotland in group B and Ireland in pool C.

Unlike previous years when the eight quarter finalists qualified automatically for the competition proper, only four countries get automatic qualification from the World Cup in South Africa last summer. They are the cup holders South African finalists and, France, who finished in third place and Wales as the principal host nation for the 1999 tournament Group matches in 1999 will be held in all four home countries - with the final in Cardiff. Ironically Wales alone of the home countries had to qualify for the tournament last year after failing to reach the quarter finals in 1991.

The qualifying rounds will embrace 66 countries and will be played in five geographical zones and the pattern is similar in all five zones. The lowest ranking countries play in round A. After that is determined, they enter round B. The countries from the first and second division of the FIRA Championship then enter the equation in round B. The pecking order of the participating FIRA teams (Italy, Romania, Russia, Spain, Poland, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Germany, the Czech Republic and Georgia) will be determined by their position in the final table of the 1996-97 FIRA Championship.

The winners and runners up in each pool in round B qualify for the final European round (C). A draw will then decide the teams that will play England (two), Ireland (two) and Scotland (two) in triangular tournaments at Twickenham, Lansdowne Road and Murrayfield. The winners and runners up in the three tournaments will qualify for the finals, while the third placed teams teams go through to repechage.

Members of the IRFU election sub committee, the body responsible for selecting the Ireland manager, coach and selectors, met the manager Pat Whelan and coach Murray Kidd in Dublin on Sunday. That meeting is likely to have been the prelude to the reappointment of Whelan, and Kidd for next season.

Ratification of their appointments will in all probability be made at the IRFU executive committee meeting on Friday in Dublin. The outgoing selection committee also met in Dublin on Sunday to review the season and no doubt to formulate plans for the months ahead. The IRFU election sub committee is Eddie Coleman (chairman), president Syd Millar, and Tom Kiernan.

Tomorrow night the IRFU game participation sub committee of Billy Lavery, union hon treasure Bobby Deacy and Eddie Coleman - will meet the players committee representatives, Niall Hogan Gabriel Fulcher and Denis McBride. Top of the agenda will be the new players' contracts. The recent initiative announced by the IRFU to contract up to 40 players for next season and pay them a figure of around £30,000 will be carried a stage further at the meeting.

The remaining first round match in the Leinster Senior Cup between the holders St Mary's College and Lansdowne has been refixed for Tuesday April 30th. The quarter final ties between Monkstown and Terenure and Clontarf and Skerries will be played on April 27th and that between Old Belvedere and Greystones the following day. Wanderers will meet the winners of the St Mary's Lansdowne tie in the quarter final on May 4th. The semifinals will take place on May 12th and the date for the final has not been set. One of the complications there is that Ireland may be meeting the Barbarians in Dublin on May 18th.

The St Mary's Lansdowne first round tie was postponed from its original date and cannot be played on the weekend of April 27th-28th as St Mary's meet Cork Constitution in a rearranged All Ireland League match on the 27th.

. Senior Welsh dubs message of support to their English counterparts in their battle with the Rugby Football Union.

Leading Courage League club seeking more power and a greater share of income will resume their talks with Twickenham later this week, boosted by the support of Welsh outfits who say such a vision for the future of the game mirror their own.

The Welsh clubs meet the WRU on Thursday evening to finalise the formula for the commercial future.

Peter Thomas, chairman of the first division clubs in Wales con firmed: "The stated aims and ambitions of the leading English clubs are very much in line with ours.

"Our meetings thus far with the WRU have been positive and we very much hope that we will continue."

Thomas says the Welsh clubs will stand shoulder to shoulder with their English counterparts.