Rainbow Cup announced

A new cup competition between the Celtic nations and Italy and South Africa has been announced.

Representatives from the Celtic Unions and SA Rugby announced their agreement on the competition, with a working title, the Rainbow Cup.

The competition will start no later than the 2006/7 season conditional upon criteria being met and will initially be played for a minimum of five seasons.

There will be 24 teams - 11 Celtic league sides, four Italian teams and SA Rugby's nine top provincial teams - playing a seven-week competition in the September/October window.