Heineken Cup opening fixtures released
The wait is over and fixtures are in. Yes it really is only a mere two-and-a-half months to the start of the Heineken Cup and we are all set for a real doozy of an opening weekend.
Starts don’t get any tougher than that of London Wasps who have the thankless task of taking on last season’s champions Toulouse in their opening game of pool six. Shaun Edwards’s men face the daunting prospect of taking on Europe’s finest at the Stade Ernest-Wallon; anything other than a defeat would be a truly momentous result.
It doesn’t get much easier for the English teams either in this smorgasbord of tough first games. Bath are set to travel to last year’s runners up Biarritz, while domestic winners Leicester have an all-champions match against Italy’s Benetton Treviso and Saracens won’t relish a tricky encounter away at French titleholders Clermont Auvergne.
Elsewhere Northampton Saints faces Castres Olympique and "The Exiles" meet "the stay at homes" when London Irish welcome Munster to England. The Welsh sides have a few tantalising match-ups Toulon v Ospreys should be an exciting attacking affair as could Scarlets v Perpignan over in pool five.
There will also be a mini Scotland v Wales rivalry as Newport Dragons see what real fire breathers look like when they visit Glasgow on the opening Friday. That is swiftly followed by Edinburgh making the opposite journey when they take on Cardiff Blues the following day.
Irish sides Ulster and Leinster complete the set with home matches against Aironi and Racing Metro 92 respectively.
Opening fixtures:
Friday October 8th
P1: Northampton Saints v Castres Olympique
P4: Ulster v Aironi
P6: Glasgow v Newport Gwent Dragons
Saturday October 9th
P1: Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh
P2: Leinster v Racing-Metro 92
P2: Clermont Auvergne v Saracens
P3: Toulon v Ospreys
P3: London Irish v Munster
P5: Benetton Treviso v Leicester Tigers
P5: Scarlets v Perpignan
Sunday October 10th
P4: Bath v Biarritz Olympique
P6: Toulouse v London Wasps