Ireland face six matches in 10 weeks

The Six Nations Committee has confirmed new dates for Ireland's postponed championships matches in the autumn. Ireland will meet Scotland on Saturday, September 22nd, and then face back-to-back internationals against Wales and England on October 13th and 20th.

The matches have been rescheduled after Ireland were unable to fulfil the original fixture dates due to the foot-and-mouth crisis. The new timetable means that the Irish team will face six internationals in a little over a 10-week period. They play Samoa, New Zealand and Canada on consecutive Saturdays in November.

It is an extremely tough assignment for Warren Gatland's charges, offering a thorough examination on the depth of playing resources available to the national management team. Despite the arduous fixture list, assistant coach Eddie O'Sullivan was reasonably pleased with the outcome of yesterday's Six Nations Committee meeting in London.

"It's obviously not ideal to be playing that many matches in such a short period of time but when you consider the alternatives, I'm not too unhappy. One possible alternative, pushed by England, was that our match against them at Lansdowne Road would be played on the weekend of November 3rd/4th. That would have meant that we would face four internationals on the trot.

"Now we'll start by going to Murrayfield to take on the Scots and have a few weeks before taking on the Welsh and English over a fortnight. I think next season is going to break all records in terms of the number of tests that the national side will play - 13 in all. We have six before Christmas, then five in the Six Nations Championship and two next summer against the All Blacks in New Zealand.

"It's an early start to the international season and will certainly offer a big test on the depth of our squad. The players face a very busy schedule when you factor in the Celtic League and European Cup competitions."

O'Sullivan's immediate concerns centre on the number of Irish players that make today's Lions squad for the tour to Australia: only then will Gatland, O'Sullivan and team manager Brian O'Brien be able to sit down and select a squad for Ireland's match against Romania in Bucharest on June 2nd.

The Six Nations Committee issued a statement following yesterday's meeting in which they confirmed that due attention had been paid to try and minimise the impact on domestic and European competitions but referred to the primacy of international rugby and the importance of the completion of the most important competition (Six Nations) in the Northern Hemisphere.

Alan Hosie, chairman of the Six Nations Committee, pointed out: "I am very pleased that in these difficult circumstances unanimity prevailed. The committee was particularly appreciative of the Irish Rugby Football Union in agreeing to play two Six Nations matches on consecutive weekends."

For their part the IRFU representatives at the meeting, Syd Millar and Noel Murphy, paid tribute to the patience and understanding of the committee during the last few months.

This latest development virtually rules out any club rugby for contracted Irish players.