Celtic League gets major boost

The new look Celtic League has been given a massive boost ahead of its third campaign as teams use Celtic League positions as official rankings for European Tournament qualification.

And the Irish Rugby Football Union will also be using the Celtic League performances of their four teams as one of the key indicators of their European ratings.

“This is just the kind of boost to the tournament’s stature, standing and credibility that we have been looking for. It means there is even more than Champion or Cup winner titles at stake for all the teams,” said Keith Grainger, the Celtic League’s newly appointed Tournament Director.

“Now that the three Unions and their clubs have agreed to a home and away formula for the Celtic League competition starting with the 2003/4 season, it will provide more regular and even higher quality rugby than in its first two seasons.

“As far as the Scots are concerned, it will be a straight shoot-out between their three teams for the guaranteed two places in the Heineken Cup. It will be the same for Wales, with their top four finishers claiming their European slots in the 2004/2005 season.”

The Irish, who have held the Celtic League trophy for the past two year’s following the successes of Leinster Lions and Munster in the finals of 2002 and 2003, will be using the form of their four teams in both the Celtic League and the Celtic Cup as the major part of their ranking system for European qualification.

“Ireland has a guaranteed right to two places in the Heineken Cup and can earn a third through meritocracy if our teams are successful,” explained Philip Browne, the Chief Executive of the IRFU.

“In the past we have used our old Inter-Provincial Championship to rank our sides for the European competitions, but we have also used their performances in the Heineken Cup and the Parker Pen Challenge Cup as well as their achievement levels in the cross border Celtic Cup to help us.

“In the new season we will be looking to take account of the performance of our four teams Ulster, Munster, Leinster Lions and Connacht in both the Celtic League and Celtic Cup Competitions in our system of ranking, along with their performances in the European competitions.

“It certainly means the four teams will be going flat out in both the League and Cup to not only beat the strong opposition from Scotland and Wales, but also to stay ahead of their old Irish rivals.”

The new Celtic League is due to kick-off on Friday, September 5, with the final of the Celtic Cup scheduled for Saturday, December 20.