Welsh power surge may be drained by overload

Celtic League/Overview: It's back, and definitely for the better. When the summer ructions between the Celts briefly presented an exclusively Irish-Scottish alternative, suddenly the much-derided competition appeared more glorious. Come back Celtic League, all is forgiven.

It's a sad state of affairs when Ireland's most famous brew has ended up sponsoring the English Premiership, all the more so when the Celtic League enters its fifth year without a title sponsor. Given the competition's audience size and terrestrial television coverage this seems extraordinary but perhaps the latest stand-off between the Welsh and their Celtic "cousins" left new clouds hanging over the competition and put off prospective sponsors.

With a £75,000 first prize and the promise of renewing old Anglo-Welsh club rivalries, no doubt the revamped Powergen Cup which the Welsh secretly negotiated behind the backs of their fellow Celts will have its appeal.

Nonetheless, the group stages have been drawn on a regional basis and in the first two weekends of October, with the Heineken European Cup on the horizon later that month, BBC Grandstand viewers are unlikely to be watching full-strength line-ups.

The Celtic power has shifted toward the Welsh, who have won the league for the last two seasons, but you also have to wonder what the hidden cost of this extra load will be, to the Welsh especially, given they are also playing a fourth autumn Test.

Lynn Jones, the ebullient, ever-confident coach of reigning champions The Ospreys, is a little concerned about the strength in depth of his largely home-spun squad. Then again, they drew 18,000 for their pre-season meeting with Wasps to their new £27 million stadium (literally called the new stadium until a ground sponsor is found) and with 8,000 forecast for their opening match of their defence against Leinster on Sunday, they'll soon outstrip the total of 36,000 who came to their home games last season.

Mindful of the boost this has given the Ospreys, Jones said this week: "We were a good team last year but it is important for us not to relax on that. We need to become a great team because good is the enemy of great. I've made the players aware we have to be a better side again. To defend a title you have to become a great team."

With such increased revenue streams (the ground, shared with Swansea FC, didn't cost them a penny), the ambitious Ospreys have the potential to strengthen their squad whenever the need arises and become a European power.

Llanelli, with their controversial array of new overseas signings which has forced the Welsh RFU to allow six "foreigners" per squad, could regroup, Cardiff - as is their wont - are making loud noises after strengthening on and off the pitch, while the Dragons, with a settled squad, should benefit from abandoning their failed experiment of having a rugby league coach.

The Scots, too, were noticeably more competitive last season and, after little or no Lions disruptions, have had the most settled off-season of all. Where does this leave the Irish provinces? Gone are the days when they dominated the competition, which merely underlines how much stronger it has become, and they are unlikely to ever return.

Christian Cullen's long-term absence takes away Munster's sharpest finisher of last season, and likewise the injured Mike Mullins made more appearances and scored more tries than any Munster player over the last four seasons, while Leinster look hardest hit of all by their end-of-season exodus; many of them Celtic League stalwarts. On top of which, the Lions tour has hit them the hardest and Michael Cheika, their third coach in three years, deserves time to make an impact.

Ulster, relatively settled and with eight of Ireland's Japanese tourists proof of the new blood coming through, should be the most improved.

At least there will be a level playing field with regard to qualifying for next season's European Cup purely by dint of Celtic League finishing positions. But then when you examine the contrasting spending power and recruitment drives of Connacht and the rest, and think of the heavily politicised role of the union's Player Advisory Group, and it's clear the anti-Connacht agenda, rather than a concerted push for four European Cup places, remains paramount.