1. Underlying Rules and Laws

The format and playing aspects of the Magners League ("Tournament") shall be governed by the Tournament Rules.

In addition, the Tournament shall be played under the IRB Laws of the Game and in accordance with the IRB Regulations relating to the Game.

2. The Teams

There shall be ten Teams participating in the Tournament which comprises two Teams from Scotland, four Teams from Wales and four Teams from Ireland.

3. The Format

3.1. The Tournament shall consist of both a League stage followed by a Play-Off stage which will be introduced for the first time this season.

3.2. In the League stage, each Team shall play every other Team in the Tournament in two matches per season on a home and away basis.

3.3. In all League matches, four League points shall be awarded for a win and two League points shall be awarded for a draw. One bonus League point shall be awarded to a Team scoring four or more tries and one bonus League point shall be awarded to a Team losing by seven points or less.

3.4. The top four Teams in the League at the end of the season shall qualify for the play- offs ("the Play Offs") which are being introduced for the first time this season and which shall consist of Play Off semi finals and a Play-Off Final.

3.5. If two or more Teams finish with the same number of League points their placings will be determined by the following criteria in descending order;

• number of matches won;
• the difference between points for and points against;
• the number of tries scored;
• the most points scored;
• the difference between tries for and tries against; or failing which;
• placings will be dependent upon the fewest number of red and yellow cards received.

3.6. In the Play Off semi-finals, the Team placed first in the League shall play the Team placed fourth and the Team placed second shall play the Team placed third. The semi finals shall be held at the home grounds of the first and second placed Teams respectively. The winners shall then qualify for the Play Off final which will be played at a venue determined by Celtic Rugby, which may include the venue of one of the finalists.

3.7. The winner of the Magners League for 2009/10 will therefore be the Team that wins the Play Off final.

3.8. In the event of a tie at full time in either Play-Off semi-final or the Play Off final, then the Team that has scored the most tries in the match will be deemed the winner. If the number of tries are tied, extra time will be played and if the Teams are still tied on points and tries at the end of extra time then the winner will be determined by a Place Kick Competition.

3.9. The Place Kick Competition will follow different rules than those adopted at other competitions. Each Team will nominate three goal kickers who will take five place kicks between them from different positions along the twenty-two metre line. The Team with the most place kicks scored will be the winner. If the Teams are tied at the end of their five kicks, then sudden death will apply.

3.10 Only Players on the Playing Area at the final whistle of extra-time may be nominated for the Place Kick Competition. No substituted Players or Players who have been shown a red card may take part at any time including any Player who has received a yellow card and who remains in the sin bin at the time of the final whistle of extra- time.

4. Scheduling for the Tournament

4.1. All matches will normally kick off between 6pm on Friday and 6pm on Sunday of the respective weekends designated by Celtic Rugby.

4.2. On the weekend of the last round of the Magners League matches, all the matches will be played on the same date and time unless the matches have no impact upon the Play Off matches or qualification for the European competitions.

5. Playing Squad

5.1. No Player may represent a Team in the Tournament unless he is a registered playing member of that Team, or a Permit has been granted for him to play for that Team in the Tournament.

5.2. Teams in the Tournament will be limited to registering up to 36 Players at any one time (a minimum of ten must be sufficiently specialised and experienced Front Row Players) who may be eligible to play for the Team in the Tournament.

5.3. A maximum of two Non-European Players are permitted in a Team's match squad.

5.4. A Team may play Permit Players from a non-Magners League Team within the same Union. A Non-European Player may not play on Permit and a Permit Player may only play for one Team in the Tournament in any one season.

5.5. No Player is eligible to play for a Team in the Tournament if he transfers or is registered after the 31st January, during the relevant season, except that a youth player who attains the age of 18 may be registered after that date and be eligible to play for that Team provided that the number within the Team's playing squad which has been registered does not exceed.

6. Officials

The referees for all matches in the Tournament shall be chosen by the referee officers of the three Celtic Unions in conjunction with Celtic Rugby from a list of referees nominated by each Union. There is no requirement for neutral referees and by way of example, a referee from Scotland may referee a match between Edinburgh and Munster. The use of referees from other non-Celtic Rugby Unions is also permitted.

7. Citing Commissioner

A Citing Commissioner will be appointed for all matches in the Tournament. They shall be entitled to cite a Player for any acts of Foul Play that in the opinion of the Citing Commissioner warranted the Player being shown a red card, even where such act(s) may have been detected by the referee and/or touch judge(s) and may have been the subject of action taken by them.

8. Television Match Official ("TMO")

8.1. A TMO shall be appointed for any match in the Tournament that is being broadcast live.

8.2. The referee may consult with a TMO when the referee is unsure, when making decisions relating to:

• The scoring of points through try, conversion, penalty goal or a dropped goal
• Correct grounding of the ball for a try
• Penalty Try as a result of foul play that occurs only in the in-goal area prior to or during the act of grounding the ball
• Touch / touch in goal / dead ball during the act of grounding the ball.

9. Heineken Cup Qualification

9.1 Save that the winners of the Heineken Cup and the Challenge Cup automatically qualify for the next season's Heineken Cup competition, the placings in the Tournament will determine Heineken Cup Qualification for the Teams from the three Celtic Unions.

9.2. For these purposes, the Team that wins the Play Off final shall be deemed to have finished the Magners League in first place, with the runner up in second place. The Teams that played in the Play-Off semi-finals shall be deemed to have finished the Magners League in third and fourth places (such third and fourth placings to be determined by which of the Teams was the higher placed Team at the end of the League matches). Thereafter the placings five to ten are as per their Magners League position at the end of the season.

The above sets out a summary of certain provisions of the Tournament Rules for information purposes only. As such, these provisions may be not be relied upon and for a full and proper understanding of the provisions and rules of the Tournament, reference must be made to the Tournament Rules in their existing and entire form.