New sponsor for league

THE Celtic League will this afternoon unveil a new sponsor and a new name to take over from Magners from next season.

Andy Irvine, the Celtic League chairman and former SRU president, will make the announcement at Murrayfield after the completion of successful talks with a firm in the banking industry. It is understood that the sponsorship value will be very close to that which Magners invested as the first title sponsor of the competition, which grew last season from the three Celtic nations to include Italian teams Aironi and Treviso.

League chief executive John Feehan said: "It is a difficult economic environment right now for sports sponsorship but we have worked hard to seek out the right sponsor.

"It has been made easier with the growth of the competition, the rise in attendances and broadcast interest, and the fact it is a very high-quality and exciting competition."