THE heat is on to make certain the name of Newport is included in the new merged team for next season and beyond.

A vital Newport board meeting takes place tonight and the Argus understands that a number of directors intend pressing for the historic name to be preserved.

The Newport and Ebbw Vale boards will then meet on Saturday when the Gwent rivals clash in the Principality Cup quarter-final at Eugene Cross Park.

Every Heineken Cup and Celtic League game is due to be played at Rodney Parade.

The original intention was to make the new team a Gwent one but that was based on a four-team scenario made up for four merged teams on an equal basis.

That all changed when four became five and Cardiff and Llanelli emerged as stand alone teams in the final shakedown.

Now fans are making the point that Newport has to be in the title both from a historic view and a marketing perspective.

They will be loathe to accept a Gwent title when two of Newport's biggest rivals are to stand alone even if words like Scarlets and Blues are added to reflect the regional status of Llanelli and Cardiff.

All the clubs were meeting again this morning, along with Wales coach Steve Hansen, WRU group chief executive David Moffett and director of rugby Terry Cobner. Details to be thrashed out include squads, coaches, drafting of players and salary caps.

Newport chairman David Watkins, who captained Great Britain in union and league as a player, has written to the Rugby League for details of their cap system.

Three bands are likely to be introduced in Welsh rugby, one for young players, one for established professionals, and one for internationals.

An independent tribunal is likely to sit and judge cases where a salary cap for any group of players has been breached.

On the coaching front, the Gwent or the merged Newport and Ebbw Vale team could appoint both Newport's Leigh Jones and Vale's Mike Ruddock.