Fast start is key under new league structure

MAGNERS LEAGUE:MUNSTER, ULSTER and Connacht have drawn home games in the first round of the Magners League with Munster coach Tony McGahan's side facing new Italian recruits Aironi in either Cork or Limerick on the first weekend in September.

That game will mean a hasty return to his former stomping ground for New Zealand number eight Nick Williams, who was one of the big summer signings for the new Italian franchise. Aironi, who are in Ulster’s group in the Heineken Cup, have also signed up a number of Italian international players.

The introduction of the two new Italian franchises – Benetton Treviso is the other – will take the number of teams in the Magners League back up to 12 for the first time since the 2003/04 season, when Welsh rugby moved to a regional system.

The opening round will see Ulster welcome former star Tommy Bowe and his Ospreys team-mates, who kick off the defence of their title with a trip to familiar territory at Ravenhill.

Connacht, under the new guiding influence of Eric Elwood as head coach, entertain Newport Gwent Dragons at the Sportsground, while Leinster’s first match takes them away to Glasgow for a clash against Warriors. Leinster lost 30-6 last season when they travelled to Firhill, having beaten Warriors 20-14 in the first match at the RDS.

Leinster and Munster in particular will be looking for a strong start as the increase in team numbers means there will be four extra rounds of matches in the league phase of the tournament.

In order to accommodate this, some games are scheduled to be played during the international windows in November and when the RBS Six Nations championship is being played. Both Leinster and Munster have two scheduled matches in November.

Leinster will have their eye on going one step further this time around, having fallen flat against Ospreys in last season’s Grand Final at the RDS.

Bowe was one of the Ospreys’ two try scorers in their 17-12 victory in May and also grabbed a vital bonus-point try at his old stomping ground as the Ospreys beat Ulster 38-27 in April to stay on course for the play-offs.

The 22-round league season kicks off on the first weekend in September and runs through until the weekend of May 6th of next year. All games in Round 22 will kick-off simultaneously to ensure no teams have advantage when vying for play-off places or European qualification.

The top four teams in the regular season will once again progress to the semi-finals, which will be held on the weekend of May 13th. The Magners League Grand Final will be played on the weekend of May 27th.

At this stage the fixtures are weekend-only dates. Specific dates, kick-off times and, in some cases, venues, will be released after consultation with the individual teams and broadcast partners.

The broadcasting partners for the coming season will include RTÉ and TG4, BBC Northern Ireland (Ireland), BBC ALBA (Scotland), as well as long-standing Welsh broadcasters BBC Wales and S4C.