RUGBY: The Celtic League has been put back together for next season after the warring unions reached an agreement, of sorts, at a crisis meeting in London yesterday.
IRFU chief executive Philip Browne and his allies in the Scottish union agreed to accommodate the Welsh on their new venture in the Anglo-Welsh Cup competition for next season despite its taking up five weekends in the fixture list.
A joint statement released last night read: "As a consequence of a very positive and productive meeting in London today, the Celtic League Association confirms that the three unions have reached agreement to accommodate the proposed Anglo-Welsh Cup competition in the 2005-06 season."
Further clarification is expected on Monday but it is believed the proposed 20-match, home-and-away, format for next season will go ahead with Welsh teams playing some domestic Celtic League matches midweek.
This means, however, the IRFU and SRU will have to play domestic games on the weekends of rounds one to three of the Anglo-Welsh Cup.
The other outstanding Welsh Celtic League fixtures will be scheduled once the knockout stages of the Heineken European Cup and Anglo-Welsh Cup are confirmed in December.
It is also understood the Irish and Scottish unions will receive an increased share of the television rights.
A compromise simply had to be reached yesterday as Wales were adamant they would be entering the new competition, while none of the three unions can sustain current levels of income without the Celtic League.
The situation of the proposed Rainbow Cup, which would include South African and Italian teams, for 2006/2007 is still unresolved.
It looks increasingly more difficult to organise, especially with the Welsh sides now definitely out of the equation.
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