The race is on for the Grandest of Magners League prizes

The very first Magners League Grand Final went off with a bang last season with Ospreys beating Leinster 17-12 at a sold-out fixture in Dublin's RDS. It was a game on par with any other northern hemisphere professional club final, ending in a record-breaking third Magners League title for Ospreys.

Comprising an impressive 14 British & Irish Lions players between them, these two sides were destined to treat fans to a world-class match. It was, however, Ospreys who ultimately triumphed, outscoring Leinster by two tries to nil.

Tommy Bowe and Lee Byrne, who ran in the tries, will surely now be turning their attention to earning a top-two finish in the regular season to gain the home advantage in the Play-Off semi-finals to reach a possible second Grand Final on Saturday, May 28, 2011.



The venue for the Grand Final will once again depend on where teams finish in the regular league and the Pay-Offs.

The four top-finishing teams in the regular Magners League season will take part in the Play-Off semi-finals, with Teams 1 and 2 having home advantage over Teams 4 and 3. The Grand Final will then be played at the home venue of the highest ranked team.

Clubs without the required capacity of 18,000 at their home venues will be able to nominate an alternative 'home' if they win the right to stage a Play-Off fixture.

As David Jordan, Tournament Director, explains: "The team that reaches the Grand Final having achieved the highest finishing position in the regular Magners league season shall have the right to nominate a venue of more than 18,000 capacity within its own Union's jurisdiction to host the game.

"All nominated venues will have to meet with the approval of the Celtic Rugby Board and its commercial requirements and, in the unlikely event of neither finalist being able to nominate a suitable venue, the Board will take the game to a ground of its choice."

The ruling on where the Grand Final will be staged follows the Super 14 model in which the highest placed team in the regular league season to reach final enjoys home advantage. This will add a further element of excitement to the remaining rounds of Magners League matches. It really is all to play for!