Shifting the goalposts on the eve of a new season is one of English rugby's specialities, and yesterday's Zurich Premiership launch at Twickenham did not disappoint. In this country, people find it hard to accept that a side who sweat blood for nine months to finish top of the table are not guaranteed to be champions but, on the eve of tonight's big kick-off, precisely such a scenario now faces Leicester and their perspiring rivals.

Proceeding on the basis that what works for the Super 12, rugby league, American football, Australian Rules and sundry other sports might just be worth embracing, Premier Rugby have confirmed the champions of England will be the side who win the Premiership final on May 31, rather than the team who head the table at the end of the regular season. For Leicester to collect a fifth straight title, therefore, they will have to prove themselves twice, first over a long distance then over a short, sudden-death sprint.

This is great news, at least in theory, for improving rivals such as Gloucester and Sale who do not, as yet, have Leicester's consistency over an achingly long season. Now they can finish a mere second or third and, assuming they win a final eliminator, still engineer a one-off ambush away from the Tigers' fortress at Welford Road. From a commercial viewpoint, too, there are blindingly obvious advantages in a showpiece finale and the concept, which replaces the much-derided eight-team Zurich championship play-offs and cuts the domestic programme by a week, has also received a general thumbs-up from most coaches and players.

Even Martin Johnson, Leicester's captain, is happy to support the new system which also features a "wildcard" knock-out innovation next May, offering one of four mid-table clubs a backdoor route into the following season's Heineken Cup should they win a two-leg semi-final and the subsequent final. "It's a great way to finish a season to have a showpiece final at Twickenham," insisted Johnson, an avid gridiron fan and thus no stranger to Super Bowl play-offs. "We thought it would happen sooner rather than later, so it's not a surprise."

Not all his Tigers team-mates share his enthusiasm but Harlequins' chief executive Mark Evans spoke for the majority who recognise that professional club rugby needs big occasions to attract a wider audience. "Our fans want us to play games that mean something and have something hanging on them," said Evans. "Club rugby is growing at a pretty impressive rate, and these changes will accelerate that growth."

At some stage English rugby still has to grapple with the sheer length of the domestic season, which makes any end-of-season innovation a potential lottery. But, for now, the sceptics can take solace from the small print. It is conceivable that, if English clubs from outside the league's top three win the Heineken or Parker Pen Cups and thus secure their European passports, the "wildcard" final would be irrelevant to one, or even both, of the finalists. In that instance lucky losers would apparently be drafted in, assuming they have not already disappeared on holiday. Another tortuous set of circumstances could also see the Powergen Cup finalists enter the wildcard equation, at which point the public really will be confused.

With attendances up 40% last year, however, and double-digit increases anticipated across the league this time, the onus is now on the players to fulfil the lofty expectations of, among others, England's assistant coach Phil Larder. "At club level I thought the standard last year was very poor. Now, speaking not only to the Leicester guys but others from the international set-up who have had the summer off, they are feeling better than they have done for ages. Both England and the Premiership will see the benefit because there's no doubt there'll be a massive scrap for places in the Test team."

Larder, like many others, is loath to make sweeping forecasts - "The two teams I identified last year finished in the relegation zone" - but he shares my view that Gloucester, in particular, and Sale will be Leicester's main threats, with Northampton under former All Blacks coach Wayne Smith not far behind.

Further down a gut feeling suggests that three more clubs under shrewd hard-nosed Kiwi coaches - Wasps, Bristol and Saracens - will show improvement while London Irish under Brendan Venter will never lack for competitiveness. All of which leaves four sides - Newcastle, Bath, Harlequins and Leeds - scrapping to avoid the dreaded automatic relegation slot and the tipsters unanimous that there has never been a tougher Premiership race to call.