Welsh officials were last night reportedly urging their Scottish and Irish counterparts to agree to a season-long 22-match Celtic League competition to be set up in 2003-04 after it was revealed that their working party is to recommend a new five-team set-up.

The working party is set to reccommend a new provincial club structure taking the best out of separate proposals for the creation of provinces and super clubs.

It is hoped that this solution will meet the requirements of both the Welsh Rugby Union and wealthy club owners who will also see their club 'brands' survive under the new system.

The Welsh provincial clubs would compete in a 12-team Celtic League, ideally playing home and away, and the Heineken Cup.

Below this level, there would be a 12 or 14-team Premier Division, made up of the nine current top-flight clubs, plus a number of sides from Division One.

The working party's recommendation will go to the WRU general committee for ratification next month.

And, if approved, it will then be voted on by the 239 member clubs at an EGM in January, with a view to it being implemented next season.

It would mean the existing nine Premiership sides, who also currently compete in the Celtic League, will continue to field development teams in domestic competition which would run concurrently with the cross-border tournaments.

The 2003-04 season is being targeted as the starting point for the new look Celtic League because next season will be hugely affected by the World Cup.

The Herald reports that delegates from all three countries will now have to study the plans in depth after yesterday's meeting because Irish delegates have previously made it clear that they favour a shorter Celtic League competition with around 14 to 16 matches for each side.

While the Welsh proposal would see them field five participants, with four from Ireland and three from Scotland, the situation is further complicated because of doubts over Connacht's future due to financial constraints.

The original four-team provincial plan put forward by WRU director of rugby Terry Cobner appears to have been dropped.

The five provincial clubs would receive around £1.4m a year in funding from the WRU. The key question now is what the make-up of these five sides would be.