Viadana and Treviso come up with cash necessary to join Magners League

YET another chapter of the ongoing saga of the Italian clubs' application to join the Magners League is being written even at this late stage.

The two clubs involved, Viadana and Treviso, have somehow come up with the money that was demanded in return for an invitation to join the league and, in doing so, they have called the league board's bluff.

Two thirds of the ?3 million fee is said to have been guaranteed by the two clubs with the remainder being promised by the Italian Rugby Federation (FIR), although there has still been no formal warranty as requested last week.

The Magners League board met last Tuesday to discuss this latest development and more meetings were scheduled for this weekend in Dublin where Italy played Ireland yesterday. The Magners League chairman, John Hussey, is said to be the driving force behind moves to integrate the Italians, the Welsh are understood to be keen and only the Scottish contingent are sceptical on the benefits from inviting the Italian clubs into a Celtic league.

If the deal goes ahead it seems certain that Viadana and Treviso would face a steep learning curve while they attempted to persuade Italy's large foreign contingent to return home. But even if they are successful in their efforts the two clubs won't be up to full strength for two to three years because of contractual obligations that are already in place and that presumes that the players like the Bergamasco brothers and Sergio Parisse would quit Stade Francais for Treviso.

According to an Italian source there is a TV deal in the offing that would add to the Italian clubs' dowry, although details have still to be hammered out. The Magners League board has also insisted on inserting an opt-out clause in the event that the merger proves disastrous, but everyone expects the Italian clubs to go the distance.

The deal which seemed dead in the water just one week ago now appears to be alive and kicking with at least a chance that the two Italian clubs will be included when next season's fixtures are announced in the coming weeks. But the story has had too many twists for anyone to predict the outcome with any certainty.

As it stands, it looks marginally more likely to happen than not. This is undoubtedly good news for Italian rugby, which needs a higher standard of domestic rugby to improve at international level. Whether it is as smart a move for the three Celtic nations only time will tell.