The Western Mail reports that the leading provinces in Ireland have been angered by the IRFU insistence that players who went on the summer tour of South Africa must complete a 10-week conditioning programme before returning to action with their provinces.

This will strip Ireland's leading clubs of their top stars for the first three weeks of the new season.

The newspaper points out that this policy will leave Leinster and Munster without a total of 19 players.

IRFU spokesman John Redmond commented, "Our international guys have been playing rugby non-stop for the last four years and they need this break to work on their conditioning."

An angry Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson told the newspaper, "We want to have a serious Celtic League. It's our bread and butter competition and I don't think we should be devaluing it like this.

"I think it's unfair on the competition, unfair on the supporters and unfair on the sponsors.

"We believe it devalues our brand, because we are not going to be competing on an even playing field with the likes of Llanelli and Cardiff and we are going to lose matches we shouldn't.

"The rest of the northern hemisphere seems to be able to get by. Why should we be any different in Ireland?"

A Munster source added, "I think it's a very dangerous way to go and we are certainly not happy about it.

"It's not going to help make the Celtic League a serious competition. How can you attract crowds and get sponsors if your high-profile players aren't there?"