Magners' presence about the place may prove to be something of a reassuring presence in a season that's going to be of the rite-of-passage variety for many of the country's hottest rugby talents. Make no mistake about it, we're going to see more inexperienced players on the Magners League team sheets of all four provinces over the coming nine months than we've seen since the advent of professional rugby back in 1995.

We'll offer two contributory reasons for what's likely to be a fairly substantial seachange.

First of all there's the World Cup, due to start in a little over 12 months' time. The top 30 players in the country, and probably even a few more beyond that, will be offered as much nurturing and protection over the coming season as is possible, without pushing the patience of the provincial coaches too far, that is.

There'll be no unnecessary games for Ireland's elite players in the build-up to the World Cup, a policy that manifests itself in the decision by the IRFU to allow most of Ireland's internationals until the end of September to finish their pre-season training.

By that point in the calendar, four Magners League fixtures will have been completed but that's only the start of the international players' potential absence. Ireland's first-choice players are also going to be unavailable for their two games in November and a further two over the course of the Six Nations.

All totted up, that's eight games the internationals are definitely going to miss out on and there's little doubt that some key players will also be rested in the weeks leading up to crucial Heineken Cup games. Essentially, Ireland's best players are only likely to play half of their side's Magners League fixtures, and that's being optimistic about the situation.

But this policy isn't anything we haven't seen before, even in a season without a World Cup at the end of it.

Which brings us to the second reason why we'll be adjusting to a lot of new, fresh faces in the coming months.

In previous years the Irish provinces have been able to dip into a considerable well of experienced, full-time professionals to replace the absent internationals, but this summer, for a variety of differing reasons, the back-up ranks have been decimated.

Take Munster and Leinster as the best examples. Over the summer, Leinster have ushered 14 players out the exit of David Lloyd Riverview in Clonskeagh, ranging from the England-bound pair of Brian O'Riordan and Brendan Burke to retirees Eric Miller and James Norton.

The crucial point is that most of the players that left would have featured heavily for Leinster in the Celtic League over the past two or three years. Six new players have arrived into the set-up but that still leaves a significant deficit in numbers. It's a similar story with Munster.

Eight players, from an already thin squad, have left the province, seasoned Celtic League performers one and all. Only a handful of new signings have been imported to fill the gaps, putting the onus on the province's band of talented youngsters to supplement the squad.

We've heard of some of them already. At Leinster, Cillian Willis, Jonathan Sexton, Ross McCarron and Luke Fitzgerald will all be jostling for backline starting positions in the next few weeks, while Rob Sweeney and Johnny Wickham represent the next generation of mobile Leinster props. Down in Munster, meanwhile, there appears to be just as many vying for a Magners League starting spot.

Donnacha Ryan, the Shannon second row with experience of number eight, is an intelligent footballer with bags of natural talent, while his club colleague, Sean Cronin, looks at first glance to be as promising a hooker as we've seen for some time in Irish rugby. Gerry Hurley, the nippy Garryowen scrum-half, will also be looking to nail down some game-time, while centre Tom Gleeson, full-back Denis Hurley and wing Ciaran O'Boyle can be confident of at least getting an opportunity to show what potential they have.

The simple fact of the matter is that needs must, and these young players in both provinces will be brought through an accelerated learning process that will either make or break them over a very short period of time.

Ulster and Connacht, on the other hand, are slightly removed from the issues Leinster and Munster are having to deal with. Neither province has seen that much transfer activity this summer, although the signings of Kieron Dawson and Mark Bartholomeusz will certainly strengthen the playing squad at Ravenhill. Having won the competition last year on the last night of the season (kind of difficult to remember, isn't it? ), it's pretty obvious they care about it, and that goes for the supporters as much as the players.

But while Mark McCall's side will certainly be there-orthereabouts at the end of the season, Michael Bradley's Connacht will be damn lucky to scrape themselves off the bottom of the table. Again, their miniscule budget makes their task unbelievably difficult, while the short-sightedness of certain players in settling for a place in another province's training squad rather than a starting spot across in Galway continues to make the province's raison d'etre somewhat questionable. They'll be aided this season by a fixture list which sees them play six successive Magners League games at the Sportsground between 8 September and 13 October, but it would be a fine achievement if they lift themselves into the competition's top 10.

All of which leaves us to ponder the other seven teams. "I'll be very surprised if you see an Ireland one-twothree again, " is Brian O'Driscoll's view and it's difficult to argue with the Irish captain. The Welsh regions all look stronger for one reason or another, particularly the Ospreys. With their spanking new stadium in Swansea, they carry the appearance of a side on the up and they'll be strong contenders for the title. Cardiff, too, are capable of putting up a strong challenge, although the side from the Welsh capital aren't exactly the most dependable rugby team out there.

Llanelli and the Newport Dragons are also well capable of challenging for the title given the playing resources both enjoy, making the Welsh representation this year as strong as it's ever been in this, the sixth running of the competition. Unfortunately that statement doesn't apply to the three Scottish outfits, although the medium-term future does look fairly bright for the newly-independent Edinburgh Gunners.

It just seems such a pity that Irish provinces, Munster and Leinster in particular, won't be given full license to produce all of their armoury over the course of the competition's eight months. A genuine battle between the top Irish and Welsh sides . . . and Edinburgh . . . would have been as intriguing as anything the Guinness Premiership has to offer but while the Irish national side continues to enjoy undue influence over the rest of the game on the island, things aren't likely to change any time soon.