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Wales Online
Wales Online
Sport
Simon Thomas

Ospreys, Scarlets, Cardiff and Dragons European fixtures are announced as English champions kick-off in Wales

The Ospreys will kick off their Heineken Champions Cup campaign by playing hosts to English title winners Leicester.

Wales’ sole representatives in the European top tier event will entertain Tommy Reffell’s Tigers at the Swansea.com Stadium on the weekend of December 9-11. They then face back-to-back games against French champions Montpellier before travelling to Welford Road for their final group fixture in mid-January.

As for the other three Welsh teams, who are all in the second-tier Challenge Cup, the opening round sees Cardiff at home to Brive, the Dragons away to Wasps and the Scarlets hosting the Cheetahs. The visit of Brive to the Arms Park will bring back distant memories of when the two sides met in the 1997 Heineken Cup semi-final, with the French club going on to lift that trophy that year. Cardiff’s other group opponents are Newcastle.

Read next: Graham Price pinpoints Wales' biggest problem and how it hinders' world class talent' in team

After travelling to Wasps - which will see Wales lock Will Rowlands back on familiar turf - the Dragons have home and away ties against Pau, while the Scarlets’ second and third round fixtures are against the Cheetahs, from Bloemfontein, who have received a special invitation to the tournament.

The Cheetahs are one of five South African teams involved in Europe this year in a landmark move, with the Lions joining them in the Challenge Cup and the Bulls, Stormers and Sharks making their Champions Cup debuts. URC winners the Stormers kick off with a testing trip to the Stade Marcel-Michelin cauldron to take on Clermont Auvergne.

European champs La Rochelle begin the defence of their crown at home to Dan Biggar’s Northampton, while two of the tournament’s traditional heavyweights, Munster and Toulouse, will lock horns at a packed-out Thomond Park in round one.

The exact dates and kick-off times of the group matches will be announced following the conclusion of negotiations with broadcasters. Teams are divided into two pools of 12 in the Champions Cup, with the top eight from each section going through to the last 16 at the end of March. The sides ranked ninth and tenth in each pool will drop down to the Challenge Cup knock-out stage, joining 12 qualifiers from that tournament.

Welsh Euro fixtures

Ospreys (Champions Cup)

Dec 9-11 - Leicester (h)

Dec 16-18 - Montpellier (a)

Jan 13-15 - Montpellier (h)

Jan 20-22 - Leicester (a)

Cardiff (Challenge Cup)

Dec 9-11 - Brive (h)

Dec 16-18 - Newcastle (a)

Jan 13-15 - Newcastle (h)

Jan 20-22 - Brive (a)

Dragons (Challenge Cup)

Dec 9-11 - Wasps (a)

Dec 16-18 - Pau (h)

Jan 13-15 - Pau (a)

Jan 20-22 - Wasps (a)

Scarlets (Challenge Cup)

Dec 9-11 - Bayonne (h)

Dec 16-18 - Cheetahs (a)

Jan 13-15 - Cheetahs (h)

Jan 20-22 - Bayonne (a)

European key dates

Round 1 – December 9-11, 2022

Round 2 – December 16-18, 2022

Round 3 – January 13-15, 2023

Round 4 – January 20-22, 2023

Round of 16 – March 31-April 1/2, 2023

Quarter-finals – April 7-9, 2023

Semi-finals – April 28-30, 2023

Challenge Cup final – Friday May 19, 2023 (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)

Heineken Champions Cup final – Saturday May 20, 2023 (Aviva Stadium, Dublin)

Read next:

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Rugby's real World XV right now amid seismic shift in the great north-south divide

Wales' new pecking order as stars put their hands up for World Cup spots

Red cards, yellow cards, citings and confusion - rugby on a precipice after summer controversies

How Rugby World Cup is expected to finish as two of world's top four can't make semi-finals

Wales' best team going forward and the forgotten man who could blow World Cup selection apart

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