THERE will be play-offs at both ends of the Premiership in the coming campaign, meaning the club that finishes top will face an 80-minute shootout for the title and giving the team that props up the pile a lifeline.

Play-offs were introduced last term but did not prove to be popular as weary squads played out games that lacked the intensity of regular season games.

Nor was the title up for grabs when Neath, who had already been crowned champions, won the end-of-season tournament.

WRU head of rugby, performance and development Joe Lydon has always been a fan of the system and he emphasised the need for teams to plan their season so that they are hitting their straps at its conclusion.

That will be required in the coming campaign, which starts on Saturday, with the second and third placed teams meeting for the right to take on the league leaders at a neutral venue.

Whether the move will prove to be popular with players, officials and supporters is another matter and it is likely the side finishing top of the pile would be regarded as the best in the league.

Meanwhile, the side finishing last in the Premiership will be put up against the Division One East, West and North champions.

That would give the top flight side a shot at redemption and they would be overwhelming favourites to win the play-offs, which will take the form of semi-finals then final.

Ebbw Vale and Bridgend are tipped to lift the Division One crowns in the east and west. The Steelmen, relegated last season, and the Ravens, relegated in 2009, have recruited solidly but do not have the budget, squad depth or quality of their former Premiership rivals.

Nonetheless, they would provide a stern challenge for the worst side in the top flight of Welsh club rugby but few would tip their northern counterparts to do likewise as things stand.

Division One North clubs no longer enter the Swalec Cup after a series of one-sided drubbings.

They go into the Swalec Plate instead and last season’s northern champions Nant Conwy lost to Brynmawr, who finished in mid-table of Two East.

However, Gogledd Cymru 1404 – the development side created by the Welsh Rugby Union in 2008 – could well be put into the mix.

The relegation play-offs are a step closer towards ring-fencing, something that many believe would improve the quality of the Premiership. Another change will see the top five automatically qualify for the British and Irish Cup (as long as they have the criteria) with sixth playing seventh for the last berth.

The new play-offs system is set to be ratified next month.

Meanwhile Pontypool have named Geraint Morris as their captain for the coming campaign.

The number eight, who was a key figure in Pooler’s escape from relegation last season, had been poised to retire because of problems with his left knee.

However, the coaching staff convinced him to carry on and have rewarded him with the captaincy. Last season was his first at Pontypool Park and he started leading the side when Leighton Jones and Matthew Thomas suffered injuries.

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