WHEN the Ireland manager, Pat Whelan, announced the team to meet Australia at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, he was fairly specific and commendably forthright for some of the decisions taken.

Eight changes and a positional switch from the team that lost to Western Samoa was its own telling commentary on the abysmal nature of the performance given against the Samoans.

There was acknowledgment of the many failings last Tuesday and reward for some players who have earned their caps. In that respect the inclusion of Mark McCall in the centre is just recognition for a player whose exclusion from the original list of contracted players was hard to understand.

Whelan's explanation for the omission of Paddy Johns from the pack was also logical and I share his view that Johns is the most unlucky player of all to have lost out. There is no more honest player in the game and he is a very accomplished forward. But Johns was going to be chosen in the second row or not at all. And the inclusion of Gabriel Fulcher and Jeremy Davidson in that area is related to Australia's line out strength, as Whelan acknowledged.

The Irish players are now preparing for the match in Limerick and they have got very good reason to concentrate their minds on the task ahead and what went wrong against Western Samoa. Those two issues are very much corelated. Ireland had gone into that match with more time spent in preparation than any Ireland side had ever had for a home international. It was not reflected in the performance either in relation to concentration, physically and most certainly not psychologically.

The balance of the physical preparation must also be carefully weighed. Another very crucial matter is that of a game plan related to the team's strengths and those of the opposition. Ireland's, tactical approach was dreadful against Western Samoa.

The performance of the A side against South Africa at least gave us something tangible and positive. But it was an odd week. Perhaps in many ways it was an accurate reflection of the unpredictable nature of Irish rugby. The performance given by Connacht had many commendable aspects, as did Ulster's display against the Wallabies on Saturday.

On domestic matters, the decision of the Irish senior clubs to reject the proposals for an amended structure to the Insurance Corporation All Ireland League last Sunday was an exercise in democracy. The wisdom of the decision is another matter. I have to admit to some disappointment, but then I would not have gone for a first division of 12 clubs in the first instance. It is my belief that the first division should consist of eight clubs or a maximum of to. I have laid out the arguments for that often enough. I did so in the belief that it would be of benefit to Irish rugby and in the long term the clubs in Irish rugby.

As was pointed out by the IRFU president Bobby Deacy such a proposition was rejected by a majority of the 14 clubs that currently make up the first division and by the majority of the clubs who make up the league. That I must say is very much more a pity than a mystery.

There were some very good contributions from the floor of the meeting on Sunday and some very negative comments. What was accepted by the vast majority was that the three tier structure of club, province and country is the best system for Ireland. In practical terms it is the only realistic system. The European Cup and Conference competitions this season and the cup competition last season have presented conclusive proof that Ireland must enter provinces. We hear all sorts of talk about proposed alternative European competitions. They are pie in the sky, promoted by people with their own agendas across the water.

I would have to agree with the view expressed last Sunday that the European competitions should not be enlarged. As of now 11 weekends are set aside for those and the provincial requirements and that is sufficient. The indications are very firm too that the French would not support any enlargement of the European scene. They are firm in not doing anything to disrupt their own, championship.

ON the question of the All Ireland knock out cup, that is not a starter under the present league structure because of the league programme with 14 clubs in the first and second divisions. But I do see merit in the suggestions made by the Munster president, Paddy Reid, and a few others about a revival of the Bateman Cup.

I would point out that the Bateman Cup was run off over a weekend and it was done in the days when matches did not take place on Sundays. What would be wrong with playing it at the end of the provincial cup campaigns over a weekend. There could be semi finals on Friday and a Sunday final. That would allow a day's rest for the finalists. I can think of no better venue for the competition than Thomond Park.

The AIL structure and all it embraces is a subject to which I will return, but two aspects of the meeting last Sunday were very revealing. They were the break down of the clubs who voted for and against the present structure and the attitude of some clubs, a minority to the financial support given by the union. Incidentally the vote in favour of retaining the present structure was 28-20 and not 27-20 as announced.

Creggs, for some inexplicable reason, did not send a representative to the meeting. Five of the 14 first division clubs voted to retain the present structure, all 14 second division clubs supported it, eight of the 11 third division clubs and only one of the nine clubs in the fourth division. So common ground between the majority of the first and a majority of the fourth, but for very different reasons. I will explain the reasoning behind that too in the days ahead.

In conclusion I believe that the financial assistance given to the clubs is generous. I thought the presentation by the IRFU honorary treasurer, Johns Lyons, was excellent and left no room for doubt about the spread of the union's finances and where the money is going. There is not a bottomless pit from which the IRFU can draw. They are faced with a huge outlay on either the reconstruction of Lansdowne Road or the provision of a new stadium. The money available for that work represents no more than about one fifth of what it will cost.

The advent of professionalism has imposed huge demands and the union will run at a deficit at the end of this season. The grants of £20,000 to the first division clubs. £16,000 to the second, £13,000 to the third and £10,00 to the fourth is generous and the doubling of the travel and hotel expenses for the clubs in the AIL is also generous. The whole package costs almost £1 million. I would like to know how many of the clubs in the first division of the AIL at this point last season made a profit of £20,000 on their matches in the league. Very few indeed. Perhaps if some of them had exercised greater prudence in relation to the expenditure, of money they could ill afford on overseas coaches and players their finances would be in better order.