Kilkenny, Offaly and Wexford will automatically qualify for the semi-finals of the Leinster hurling championship next year.

The change in format for the championship was made at a lengthy meeting in Portlaoise last night when the council seemed to do a U-turn. At one stage they decided to seed only Kilkenny and Offaly to the semi-finals - and this information was given to reporters.

The fourth semi-finalist will be decided by a round-robin series of games involving Laois, Dublin and the winners of the Keogh Cup competition. The weaker counties in Leinster - Meath, Westmeath, Carlow, Wicklow, Kildare and Louth - will participate in the Keogh Cup, which is run on a knockout basis.

The open draw for the semi-finals will be televised live by RTE on Sunday night.