After run-of-the-mill outings against Scotland and Wales in June, a sharper performance will be expected from the Ireland men's hockey squad when Belgium visit Belfield this weekend. Belgium finished a surprise fourth behind Holland, Germany and England in the European Championship in Dublin in 1995, with Ireland fifth, so it will be interesting to see how the respective squads are shaping up a year away from the 1999 championship in Padua.

So far this summer, Paddy Brown, Nigel Buttimer and Mark Raphael have gained their first caps while Colin Hanna has also come into the reckoning. Ivan Steen and Francis de Rosa are on the threshold of making their international debuts tomorrow.

The Irish players may be spurred by the fact that several members of the under-21 squad may well enhance their reputations in the European junior championship, also in Padua, at the end of this month and will be challenging for places in the senior team.