Reggie Corrigan's side lifted the inaugural title last December when they defeated Munster at Lansdowne Road.

Leinster and Ponty will be joined by Bridgend, Cardiff, Connacht, Glasgow, Newport and the newly-formed Scottish Borders in Pool B.

In Pool A, Munster, Llanelli, Caerphilly, Ebbw Vale, Edinburgh, Neath, Swansea and Ulster do battle in a revamped tournament.

All the pool games will be played at the start of the season, but the semi-final will take place in the new year with the final being staged two weeks before the Six Nations.

"It's great news for the supporters that we will have two away trips to Ireland, but having to go to Dublin to play Leinster first up is going to be the hardest possible start," said Ponty coach Lynn Howells.

"We've been to Dublin in the Heineken Cup before and the fact we are starting at the end of August, rather than in the middle, is a bonus.

"Some Welsh clubs were criticised for not taking the Celtic League seriously last season, but looking at the quality of next season's competition everyone will be giving it their all.

Fantastic start

"There is money to be won at the end of it all and I think the Celtic League title will carry even greater prestige next season."

Welsh League title holders Llanelli will host Heineken Cup runners-up Munster at Stradey Park in their first match.

"We'll have to hit the ground running at the start fo the season with Munster coming to town," said Llanelli team manager Anthony Buchannan.

"It couldn't have been a harder start for us, but if you are going to play Munster it's best to get them at home.

"It should be a fantastic start to the season and this game will give us a chance to avenge our quarter-final defeat last time around."

Welsh rugby's premier division fixture list is expected to be published on Friday after the agreement of the Celtic schedule.

The tournament is likely to kick off with midweek dates in September but there'll be no weekend fixtures until early November.

There could be complications if Wales go ahead with a possible international against Romania on 2 November - a weekend earmarked for league fixtures.

Crammed

"We don't want to have clubs that make progress in the Celtic League or Europe facing fixtures crammed in at the end, as happened to us at Llanelli last season" said Welsh Premier clubs spokesman Stuart Gallacher.

"We'll probably have two fixtures on Thursday and Saturday in Christmas week because we all want to play on Boxing Day, it's always good for crowds."

"In the Celtic League, we're delighted with our opening fixture against Munster but it'll be a tight battle for qualification.

"Llanelli only have three home fixtures this year because we had four last year, but it's difficult to be fair to everyone.

"We also had to avoid clubs meeting the same teams in the Celtic League groups as in the Heineken Cup."

Pool A:
Caerphilly, Ebbw Vale, Edinburgh Rugby, Llanelli, Munster, Neath, Swansea, Ulster.
Pool B:
Bridgend, Cardiff, Connacht, Glasgow Rugby, Leinster, Newport, Pontypridd, Scottish Borders.

Fixtures:

30/31 August:
Pool A: Edinburgh v Swansea, Ebbw Vale v Ulster, Llanelli v Munster, Neath v Caerphilly.
Pool B: Leinster v Pontypridd, Cardiff v Glasgow, Newport v Bridgend, Borders v Connacht.

6/7 September:
Pool A: Ulster v Edinburgh, Caerphilly v Llanelli, Munster v Ebw Vale, Swansea v Neath.
Pool B: Connacht v Cardiff, Glasgow v Leinster, Pontypridd v Newport, Bridgend v Borders.

13/14 September:
Pool A: Swansea v Ulster, Edinburgh v Munster, Ebbw Vale v Caerphilly, Neath v Llanelli.
Pool B: Bridgend v Pontypridd, Newport v Glasgow, Leinster v Connacht, Borders v Cardiff.

20/21 September:
Pool A: Caerphilly v Edinburgh, Munster v Swansea, Llanelli v Ebbw Vale, Ulster v Neath.
Pool B: Cardiff v Leinster, Connacht v Newport, Glasgow v Bridgend, Pontypridd v Borders.

27/28 September:
Pool A: Ulster v Munster, Swansea v Caerphilly, Edinburgh v Llanelli, Neath v Ebbw Vale.
Pool B: Pontypridd v Glasgow, Bridgend v Connacht, Newport v Cardiff, Borders v Leinster.

4/5 October:
Pool A: Ebbw Vale v Edinburgh, Llanelli v Swansea, Caerphilly v Ulster, Neath v Munster.
Pool B: Connacht v Pontypridd, Leinster v Newport, Cardiff v Bridgend, Borders v Glasgow.

25/26 October:
Pool A: Munster v Caerphilly, Ulster v Llanelli, Swansea v Ebbw Vale, Edinburgh v Neath.
Pool B: Glasgow v Connacht, Pontypridd v Cardiff, Bridgend v Leinster, Newport v Borders.

Quarter-finals: weekend of 30 November.
Semi-finals: weekend of 4 January 2003.
Celtic League final: weekend of 1 February 2003.