More Celtic Pie In The Sky?

Glasgow Hawks, the Scottish club champions, have entered into negotiations with Neath and Shannon, their Welsh and Irish counterparts, about the possibility of creating a cross-border tournament, which could develop into a 12-club competition.

Hawks officials contacted the Irish and Welsh clubs last week and have received a positive response to the idea, with the prospect of the trio meeting on a home-and-away basis during the 2005/06 season.

Their plans extend beyond that scenario, with Brian Simmers, Hawks chairman, enthusiastic about the concept of a league format, featuring the best four clubs from Scotland, Wales and Ireland, being staged on an annual basis.

That would allow the likes of Hawks, Heriot's, Boroughmuir, Shannon, Garryowen, Lansdowne, Neath and Swansea to generate enhanced revenue and spectator numbers at a time when clubs are struggling.

"Neath and Shannon have both been very enthusiastic about the format and we at Hawks have decided that we can't simply wait around for the SRU to sort out its problems, we have to go out and show some initiative ourselves," said Hugh Barrow, Hawks secretary, yesterday. "This Celtic League saga is verging on a fiasco and the clubs have to take steps to provide for their own futures.

"We accept that we will have to consult the SRU over the scheduling of any cross-border matches, but I know that Brian is keen to develop this beyond one-off matches and we believe we are not alone in wanting to broaden our horizons."

Scotland's professionals, meanwhile, last night asked for clarification from the SRU as to how they could be affected by the Celtic League break-up.

A statement from the Scottish Professionals' Association said they are "concerned the situation will lead to serious welfare issues".

"The players ultimately want to play rugby and by doing so compete in a meaningful competition that caters for all professional players in Scotland."

In theory this prospective competition sounds exciting but as we’ve seen with the professional Celtic League it may struggle to get off the ground. Still it could end up with a place in Europe’s 2^nd Tier competition the Challenge Cup so will be worth entering.

The bread and butter Welsh Premiership still needs to be improved and this means less teams so the standards can improve. Too many games are dire forwards battles, what the league needs to be is an exciting breeding ground.

We’ll see I won’t hold my breath.