A Heineken Cup place will stop the Blues feeling blue

ERC want a Welsh side to play in the lower tier Parker Pen competition but have waived the rule for next season because of the Celtic Warriors' demise.

The news is a huge boost for the Cardiff Blues, who were set to play in the Parker Pen but now find themselves back at the top level in Europe.

Wales will have only three Heineken Cup places from the 2005/6 season.

The Blues finished as the lowest placed Welsh team in the Celtic League, which the Welsh Rugby Union uses to decide qualification for European competitions.

But Dai Young's team, along with the Llanelli Scarlets, the Neath-Swansea Ospreys and the Newport Gwent Dragons, will go head-to-head with the cream of the domestic European game.

"We would have preferred for our participation to have been based purely on merit, but it does ensure that the Blues' players will be able to continue to compete with the elite teams," Blues chief executive Robert Norster said.

HEINEKEN CUP QUALIFIERS England: Wasps, Bath, Northampton, Harlequins, Newcastle, Gloucester, Leicester. France: Perpignan, Stade Francais, Castres, Toulouse, Bourgoin, Biarritz. Wales: Scarlets, Dragons, Ospreys, Blues. Ireland: Munster, Leinster, Ulster Scotland: Edinburgh, Glasgow. Italy: Benetton Treviso, Calvisano.

ERC chairman Jean-Pierre Lux explained that the changes were needed because of the recent overhaul of Welsh rugby and its move from club to regional rugby.

"The changes that have taken place in the professional game in Wales over the past 18 months have impacted on our tournaments and forced us to reassess the means of qualifying for the Heineken Cup," Lux said.

"The Heineken Cup is the flagship of the professional club game in the northern hemisphere and we want it to remain as competitive in the future as it has been in the previous nine years.

"We feel the system for qualification we have devised for the future is fair to every nation and also gives an extra incentive to teams in the Celtic League and the Italian Championship."

Defending champions Wasps spearhead a seven-strong group of English sides in the competition.

Losing finalists Toulouse are one of six French clubs that will contest the trophy.