THE MAGNERS League 2009-10 campaign was officially launched yesterday in Thomond Park in Limerick, perhaps as a reminder to Munster that they are actually the defending champions.

The antic-climactic manner in which they won the league two days before their Heineken Cup semi-final, courtesy of the Ospreys’ failure to obtain maximum points at home to the Dragons, was then, of course, further overshadowed by the momentous events that followed at Croke Park.

At long last, no such anti-climax will occur again. This season, the ninth of the competition’s burgeoning history, sees the introduction of semi-final and final play-offs along the lines of most other competitions in the world – with the first-placed side at home to the fourth, and second at home to third in the semis.

Some traditionalists might take a sniffy view that this does not reward the team that finishes top of the table, although it could well mean the first-placed team can also obtain home advantage in the final if their stadium is deemed suitable.

In any event David Jordan, Director of Celtic Rugby, warmly welcomed the play-offs. “It will make the competition very competitive right through to the last few weekends and help create a world-class event, and both semi-finals and the final can be a celebration of Magners League rugby.

“It will be good for our fans and for our sponsors. Another key difference is that each Magners League weekend will be a league weekend for all of our teams. Some of the congestion we’ve had in the past will no longer be there so we’ll have a much cleaner competition week-in, week-out, and with our grand finale at the end.”

It is a measure of the standards in which Munster are judged, and judge themselves, that what ought by any yardstick have been regarded as a successful season instead left a bitter aftertaste, which Leinster’s victory in the final did little to assuage. Indeed, immediately following that semi-final defeat, when asked if the League title offered any consolation, Ronan O’Gara understandably answered: “No.”

On mature recollection, their triumph can be recalled in slightly more favourable light, although Paul O’Connell conceded that the season was seen as something of a failure. “I felt at times that we had played better than we’d ever played and in the Magners League we were delighted with our consistency. It was something we hadn’t had in the past.

“To win the league over a season probably shows you’re the best team in the three countries but unfortunately that one big day is a blot on the season and it’s something that we’ll have to try and correct this season.”

Munster are trying to become the first team to retain the title and win it three times.

“We had to target a few games last season and it really helped us focus in on the league. We’d had a disappointing record against Cardiff and Glasgow in the league, and we’d also lost home and away to Leinster the previous season.

“We targeted those six games and it helped us achieve a level of consistency which we hadn’t had in the past.”

Indeed, Munster won five of those targeted games before losing away to Cardiff, by which stage the title had been won. But the hunger and desire are as strong as ever.

“Nothing does more for your desire than losing. A few guys have come back from the Lions having lost, and obviously that day in Croke Park against Leinster – there’s nothing to help the desire better than bad days like that. Hopefully that shouldn’t be a problem this season.”

In something of a role reversal from the previous season, Leinster fell away to finish third as they focused their intentions on the Heineken Cup, but Girvan Dempsey, whose wife Anne-Marie gave birth to their first child, Peter, last Saturday, made no bones about Leinster targeting an historic Heineken Cup/Magners League double this season.

He acknowledged that the departure of Felipe Contepomi, Rocky Elsom and Chris Whitaker (now the squad’s manager) has seen Leinster lose “three big characters and influential players so people are going to think they’re irreplaceable. But no way, if you look at the recruitment Michael has done over the summer in bringing in Mike Ross, and CJ van der Linde is on the mend; Richard Strauss has come in to supplement the hooking role; Nathan Hines is in there and in the backrow the competition is strong. Stephen Keogh is in superb shape, Seán O’Brien is there and Jamie (Heaslip) is coming back from the Lions with such confidence and then Eoin Reddan coming in at scrum is going to add a new dimension and he’s really hungry because he’s so keen to get the number nine Test jersey back.”

“Obviously the first few weeks are going to be tough without the Lions but we’ve another good test against London Irish on Friday night and I think we’re pretty confident that we can build the season as we go along and come May still be fighting for two trophies.”

Connacht, with a much revamped squad, are the only Irish side at home on the opening weekend, when kicking off the league against the star-studded Ospreys and their new coach Scott Johnson on Friday week, September 4th, at the Sportsground.

The Cardiff Blues begin life at their new, 26,000-all seater Cardiff City Stadium that night against last season’s runners-up Edinburgh, while Munster begin the defence of their title away to Glasgow the same evening.

Leinster are away to the Scarlets at Saturday tea-time while Ulster face the first of three away games in their opening four matches against the Dragons on Sunday afternoon.

Jeremy Davidson, assistant coach to Brian McLaughlin in Ulster’s new set-up, admitted last season’s “eighth in the Magners League is not good enough for Ulster” and to that end they need “to win more often at home. There were too many games that went astray there last year”.

Attendances again rose last season, by 20 per cent, and negotiations for Scottish broadcasting rights to the tournament are at an advanced stage. More matches will be shown live this season – an indicator of which is that 44 games from the first 10 rounds will be televised live on Setanta Ireland, S4C and BBC Wales.

The League has rejected the recommended IRB rule change that would see 23-man squads providing extra frontrow cover. The IRB alteration to Law Three came into effect on July 28th but after consulting the Irish, Scottish and Welsh unions it was decided not to adopt it for the coming season due to additional costs and the lack of time to recruit extra props for match-day squads.