Llanelli and Cardiff will remain as stand-alone clubs

David Moffett has given the go-ahead for regional rugby in Wales after accepting the latest five-team plan proposed by Wales' Premier clubs.

The Welsh Rugby Union group chief executive met with the clubs on Friday morning, following the entente reached on Thursday among the individual clubs.

Cardiff and Llanelli will remain as stand-alone clubs, but will receive less money than the other three combined sides, which will be Bridgend-Pontypridd, Ebbw Vale-Newport, and Neath-Swansea.

All five sides will compete in the Celtic League, but only four teams will represent Wales in the Heineken Cup, with one taking part in the Parker Pen.

For the first season the WRU will decide which team will miss out on the top tier of European competition, with Cardiff most likely to enter the Parker Pen.

After that it is likely that performance in the Celtic League will decide who qualifies for which European competition the following season.

The new financial settlement should cost the WRU less than the �8.2 million a season it currently spends on domestic Welsh rugby, but the figure is likely to be higher than Moffett was anticipating.

The cash-strapped governing body has had to take drastic cost-cutting measures this year, even scrapping the Wales 'A' side for the season.

There is to be another meeting next Tuesday to finalise the details, then the whole package will be put before a WRU board meeting on Wednesday to be ratified.

The pressure had been on to find a compromise, after Llanelli launched legal action on Wednesday against the WRU's plans for four regional sides.

That move not only threatened to spark a protracted and costly civil war, but also jeopardised a 2 April deadline to decide on Welsh participation in European competition next season.