Changes for Celtic League

The Celtic League is to be restructured in such a way that none of the 22 weekends of the season will clash with the Six Nations or the Autumn Internationals.

It was also confirmed that the Celtic nations had agreed to sign a new three year accord confirming their support for their cross-border competition for a further three seasons and until at least May 2008.

All three Celtic nations also agreed that they would uniformly use the finishing positions of their respective teams in the Celtic League tournament as their Heineken Cup qualification vehicle.

The three Unions have agreed to the removal of the end of season Celtic Cup play-offs after this season's final on May 14.

The Celtic League season will kick off on the weekend of September 3, 2005 and will end on the last weekend of May 2006.