The Scarlets, Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys will all be in competitive action as they look to provide a Welsh presence in the final at the home of Warren Gatland’s side.Â
On the opening weekend of fixtures in October, both the Ospreys and the Scarlets will be in action on the first day, seeking to get off to a flyer in their respective pools.
Drawn in Pool 4, the Scarlets open their tournament away to Harlequins with French giants Clermont Auvergne and Racing Metro 92 their other opposition. Simon Easterby’s men face Harlequins on Saturday, October 12 while the Ospreys entertain last year’s Amlin Challenge Cup winners Leinster on the same day.
Elsewhere that weekend, the Blues face a trip to Sandy Park to take on Exeter Chiefs. It will be a reunion with some familiar faces for the Cardiff Arms Park side, former Cardiff men Ceri Sweeney and Tom James having left the Blues to join the Chiefs at the end of last season.
After an opening salvo, the second round of fixtures will see the Ospreys continue their Pool 1 campaign with a visit to Northampton Saints. French side Castres are the other side to complete that Pool.
Elsewhere, on the second weekend, there looks sure to be a clash between a number of familiar faces when the Scarlets welcome Racing Metro to Parc y Scarlets. The match looks set to be a mouth-watering prospect for Welsh fans with the likes of Jonathan Davies, Rhys Priestland and Liam Williams up against fellow internationals Jamie Roberts and Dan Lydiate. That fixture takes place on October 19.
After visiting Exeter, the Blues then welcome defending champions Toulon – the first European game to be played on the new artificial surface at Cardiff Arms Park.
The Pool stages will be completed in January with the quarter-finals and semi-finals taking place in April. The final at the Millennium Stadium, will be on May 24, 2014.Â
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