As expected, the European Cup organisers yesterday announced the format for next season's competition, which will again feature 20 clubs or provinces playing in five qualifying groups.

The three Irish provinces, Leinster, Ulster and Munster, will once again take part in the premier competition but it is likely that they will not be guaranteed automatic entry for the following year - 1999-2000.

At the beginning of this season it was agreed that the format would remain intact and that changes, if any, would take place after two years. It is likely that, after next year, Ireland's entry will be affected as more and more teams seek entry to what has become the Northern hemisphere's most important club and province competition.

But tournament chiefs have abandoned their quarter-final playoff experiment which provided cup holders Brive with a passage to the knockout stages this season.

The quarter-final line-up will comprise five group winners and the best three runners-up following home and away qualifying matches, meaning a reduction in European action from 10 weeks to nine.

The showpiece event starts on October 3rd next year (after six weeks of domestic league action from August 22nd), running through until November 7th and a break for World Cup qualifiers featuring England, Scotland, Ireland and Italy.

The quarter-finals are scheduled for December 12th-13th, semi-finals on January 9th-10th 1999 and the final on January 30th.

Four national teams, whose identities should be revealed next month, will compete in the second-tier European Conference, an event comprising 32 sides in eight groups of four.

French Championship restructuring means 12 representatives instead of 16 next season, creating four vacancies that could be filled by the likes of Germany, Holland, Belgium and possibly Romania.