A few short years ago it wouldn't have seemed possible. A club squad of 49 rugby players accompanied by a technical staff of nine, enjoying idyllic and truly world-class sports facilities. This is professionalism and, what's more, this is Ireland. Cocooned away from the madding crowds on the outskirts of Limerick, the National Coaching and Training Centre in the city's university constitutes something of a sporting oasis - although this week it was more of a sporting monsoon.

"Well, it has been pretty miserable," agreed the Leicester coach Bob Dwyer, "but we didn't come here to enjoy the weather, so it doesn't really matter."

Thursday was hot and incredibly humid, signalling the return of warm showers in the evening as the Centre filled up with young athletes from innumerable sports. The ultimate badge of street cred, the threestripe, was everywhere, and it wouldn't take long to guess that Adidas are sponsoring the centre for four years.

Dwyer and his Leicester machine were here to avail of the running track and pitch, set in an amphitheatre and a short stroll away from the purposebuilt "athletes" village, aka Kilmurry Village. This, in turn, is a short walking distance from the gym, complete with a top-of-the-range fitness testing and training centre, an elite weights room for elite athletes only, a 33-metre swimming pool and, a further short stroll away, a restaurant.

Situated in between is an astroturf pitch and four tennis courts, while the number of rugby and soccer pitches varies but is usually around 15, so flexible are the options available on this 35-acre site. There are all manner of water sports facilities. Basically, there's anything an elite sports team or individual could want.

Hence, the likes of Sonia O'Sullivan, canoeist Ian Wiley, the Irish Olympic rowing team, a number of inter-county hurling and Gaelic football teams (Kerry and Cavan have stayed there this year) as well as St Patrick's Athletic and Brian Kerr's under-age Irish soccer squads have utilised the NCTC.

The Centre is funded through the sports section of the Department of Education, and is basically run on a tripartite basis by the NCTC, Plassey Campus and Limerick University. Giles Warrington, the Suffolk-born head of player/athlete services in the NCTC whose CV includes stints as fitness adviser to the British Olympic team and the Irish rugby team, says the centre can provide the Leicester Tigers "with worldclass training facilities. The idea is that traditionally Irish athletes were having to go abroad to find training facilities. We're trying to rectify that."

Warrington believes that "from my experience of working with English athletes, that there is far more raw, pure potential and talent in Ireland and it's just a case of educating people and getting them on the right sort of training." As for Irish rugby, "it certainly is changing. Okay, we're a little bit later in, but we will begin catch up."

It is surprising to learn that the Centre sees a venture such as Leicester's visit as a non-profit-making exercise. "We work very much on a break even basis," says Warrington. Certainly, at £28 to £32 per day for full board and accommodation, Leicester appear pleased with every aspect of the venture.

Dwyer's assistant coach, Duncan Hall, a former Wallaby lock who toured here in 1981, visited the centre six weeks in advance after the NCTC sent a brochure to all the English clubs. "The facilities are second to none. We couldn't get anything better in England."

They were particularly taken with the University's Activity Centre, a purpose-built water complex situated on the shores of Lough Derg 15 miles away, where the squad's four internal teams pitted their collective team management skills in a game of life-saving. "To work hard together and laugh together is a pretty difficult combination to beat," says Dwyer.

But what really sets the NCTC apart is "the village" and the purpose built nature of the facilities for visiting clubs. Some of the Leicester squad were back in training from June 23rd, but, with the Lions only linking up at the weekend after a 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 week off-season, and new Fijian signing Walter Serevi arriving via a 48 hour journey on Monday, it was essentially a "bonding" experience.

FOR Eric Miller, who returned from a twoweek holiday in Greece on Sunday and will remain in Dublin for his last weekend off in a year, literally "getting to know the lads" was the primary benefit of the week.

Nonetheless, it was an intensive enough five days. Miller and the Tigers' six Lions, so to speak, have been adhering to a different training schedule with a view to Leicester's first Allied Dunbar Division One game on August 30th. Monday, Wednesday and Friday were largely given over to weights' training, Tuesday and Thursday to rugby practice, with little in the way of body contact. (Two mornings began at 7.30 with touch rugby before breakfast, and Thursday contained only one hour respite from lectures in training and injury treatment, videos, practice, and "pool recovery" before an evening off from 8 p.m.).

It is a measure of rugby's fledgling steps into the professional era that the week's technical staff included two American specialists in what is known as plyometrics - strength and speed training designed to improve explosive leg power.

"These exercises are basically designed for the new, modern game which is more speed-related and power-related," explains Miller. Recognising what Warrington cites as the crucial difference between freshness and fitness, with not enough of the former last season, Miller adds: "I think the coaches and the squad have learned a lot from last year, and it'll take a few more years until everything is right.

"In the northern hemisphere, compared to the southern hemisphere, there's no break. In the southern hemisphere, they have the Super 12, then they have a break. Then they have the Tri-Nations and another break from undergoing tours, so you can get yourself up for peak fitness for each of those competitions whereas we're straight through the season."

The coming English Division One campaign begins next Saturday week and concludes 40 Saturdays later. Hall reckons far too many demands are placed on tight forwards at any rate, and Dwyer recalls that due to Leicester's progress to the finals of both the Heineken and Pilkington Cups, the ensuing backlog forced them "to play 30 per cent of our league matches in 18 days. You can't do that and it's no surprise that we lost half of those games.

"We have to force the issue with the players. Instead of their wages going up and up and up, we have to cut back on the number of games they play and increase the amount of money they get per game. Then that gives everyone an opportunity to see the best players in the world playing the game for a longer period of time, and that's what we should want."

The burning statistic of the day had been 51, supposedly the number of games Martin Johnson completed last season with the third and final Lions Test in South Africa. Now gently easing his way back in after a groin operation and a fortnight in the Caribbean, Johnson would be entitled to demand more time off.

But he has another way of looking at it. "People have made an issue of me playing too many games and it's too much hard work. But it's a lot better than getting up every morning and doing some monotonous job for eight hours every day.

"Most of the time you enjoy playing the game. Some times you don't obviously, like when you lose or you play badly, but most of the time you enjoy it, being in the squad with the players and everything that goes with it and, yeah, the hard work. After you finish it, you get a lot of satisfaction from it. I can't complain with my lot in life. I have a job I enjoy and I get paid a lot of money for it."

And in one sporting oasis this week, it didn't look a bad old job at all.