Last season witnessed the first-ever Grand Final and semi-final Play-Offs, with Leinster, the Ospreys, Glasgow Warriors and Munster all competing to be crowned Magners League Champions.
Leinster, who finished first at the end of the regular league season, beat Munster, who finished fourth, while the Ospreys backed up their second-place finish with a win over the third-place Warriors at the Play-Off stage.
That set up a mouthwatering Grand Final between the league's two most consistent teams in front of a packed house at the RDS on May 29, 2010.
Tries from Tommy Bowe and Lee Byrne, together with two conversions and a penalty from Dan Biggar, secured Grand Final glory for the Ospreys with a 17-12 victory in the Irish capital.
Tale of the tape - records from the first Magners League Grand Final
Match records: team
Most Points 17 Ospreys (2010)
Least Points 12 Leinster (2010)
Biggest Win Margin 5 Ospreys (2010)
Biggest Losing Margin 5 Leinster (2010)
Highest Points Aggregate 29 (2010)
Most Points Half-Time 14 Ospreys (2010)
Least Points Half-Time 3 Leinster (2010)
Most Tries 2 Ospreys (2010)
Most Cons 2 Ospreys (2010)
Most Pens 4 Leinster (2010)
Fastest Try 19min Tommy Bowe (Ospreys, 2010)
Latest Try 34min Lee Byrne (Ospreys, 2010)
Latest Scorer 71min Jonathan Sexton (Leinster, 2010)
Match records: individual
Most Points 12 Jonathan Sexton (Ospreys, 2010)
Most Tries 1 Tommy Bowe, Lee Byrne (Ospreys, 2010)
Most Cons 2 Dan Biggar (Ospreys, 2010)
Most Pens 4 Jonathan Sexton (Leinster, 2010)
While last season's Grand Final was the first to feature under the league's sponsorship from Magners, the concept isn't an entirely new one as far as Celtic Rugby is concerned.
In the first few years of its existence, the Celtic League winners were determined via a Play-Off programme.
The Celtic League began life on August 17, 2001, when 15 teams from Wales (9), Ireland (4) and Scotland (2), split into two pools playing each other just once. The top four teams from each pool qualified for the knockout quarter-finals in late November, with the semi-finals taking place early in December. The inaugural final was then staged at Lansdowne Road on 15 December 2001, where 30,000 fans saw Leinster defeat Munster 24-20.
Celtic League 2001/02
Quarter-Finals
30/11/2001 Ulster 38 - 29 Neath
30/11/2001 Leinster 34 - 22 Newport
01/12/2001 Connacht 29 - 34 Glasgow
01/12/2001 Munster 13 - 6 Llanelli
Semi-Finals
07/12/2001 Leinster 35 - 13 Glasgow
08/12/2001 Munster 15 - 9 Ulster
Final
15/12/2001 Leinster 24 - 20 Munster (Lansdowne Road)
Leinster celerate their 2001 success over Munster
The Celtic League expanded to 16 teams with the introduction of a third Scottish side - the Borders - in 2002/03, but the teams still only met once during the season. A bonus-point scheme was introduced and the quarter-finals were staged in November and the semi-finals in January.
The second Celtic League Final took place at the Millennium Stadium on February 1, 2003, and Munster made up for their disappointment at losing the previous year in Dublin by beating Neath 37-17 in front of more than 30,000 fans.
Celtic League 2002/03
Quarter-Finals
29/11/2002 Pontypridd 12 - 13 Neath
29/11/2002 Munster 33 - 3 Connacht
30/11/2002 Glasgow 17 - 20 Ulster
30/11/2002 Edinburgh 22 - 26 Cardiff Rugby
Semi-Finals
03/01/2003 Munster 42 - 10 Ulster
04/01/2003 Neath 32 - 10 Cardiff Rugby
Final
01/02/2003 Munster 37 - 17 Neath (Millennium Stadium)
From 2004 to 2009, the league reverted back to deciding it's champions by a traditional league format. That all changed again last season and the success of the new system looks set to ensure the Grand Final remains the focal point of the Magners League season for years to come.
