Welsh rugby’s top club division could be set for a revamp, just 12 months after a controversial change of format was introduced.
Ahead of the 2017/18 season, the Principality Premiership could be divided into two regional groups, with the division’s 16 sides split between eastern and western pools.
The latest proposals would signal the end of the controversial mid-season split which left clubs with an uneven amount of home and away matches last season.
Last August, the Welsh Rugby Union introduced a two-tiered system in an attempt to “add intensity to an already competitive league”.
As well as being ring-fenced until 2019, the division split down the middle into two separate tiers of eight teams at the half-way point in January.
Teams then played the other seven teams in their tier once to determine final league positions and play-off qualification.
However, the format was criticised as trivialising the Tier Two sides, with other grievances focusing on the inequality of home and away matches, and large gaps between fixtures.
Under new proposals, the clubs will play each of the other sides in their region home and away in the first half of the season, before the two regional groups form one division and each side plays each other once again.
A total of 29 matches are scheduled for each team, with 14 in the first half and 15 in the second.
The end of season play-offs will also be scrapped, meaning the top side will be crowned as champion.
Last season, Merthyr beat Aberavon to the Tier One title, while Newport bested Neath in the Tier Two final.
Points accrued in the first 14 fixtures of the season will be transferred for the second half, unlike last season, where clubs started on level-pegging in their tier.
Crucially, fixtures for the entire season will be announced at the same time, instead of just half, which left some clubs unable to budget for the second stage of the season without knowing their opponents or match venues.
It is understood that the eastern region will comprise of Merthyr, Bargoed, Bedwas, Cardiff, Cross Keys, Ebbw Vale, Newport and Pontypridd, with Aberavon, Bridgend, Carmarthen Quins, Llandovery, Llanelli, Neath, RGC 1404 and Swansea completing the western region.
Of the Caerphilly County Borough sides, Bedwas finished highest in 2016/17, as they were knocked out in the Tier One play-off semi-final stage. Cross Keys fell at the same stage in Tier Two, while Bargoed finished second from bottom.