Blues kick off Euro campaign against Bristol

Jul 31 2007 by Delme Parfitt, South Wales Echo

CARDIFF Blues will open their Heineken Cup campaign at home to Bristol on Sunday, November 11 (1pm).

The Arms Park side follow that up with a trip to Harlequins the following Saturday (Nov 17) before facing a December double-header against Stade Francais.

The fixtures for the first four blocks of the Heineken pools have been announced and all the Blues’ matches will be covered by Sky.

The Dragons will kick off Welsh interest in the competition with a daunting away trip to Perpignan on Friday, November 9.

The Ospreys open up at home to Bourgoin while the Scarlets travel to Stephen Jones’ former club Clermont-Auvergne on the first weekend.

Wasps launch their defence with a mouth-watering clash against 2006 tournament winners Munster.

And there is a strong possibility Wasps could move the November 10 showdown from Adams Park to Twickenham.

Wasps can now start negotiations with the Rugby Football Union after the pool stage dates were fixed.

Wasps’ new chief executive officer Tony Copsey said: “We have to look at taking Munster to Twickenham. If we can do a deal with the RFU, then it is very likely to happen.”

2007/08 Heineken Cup Pool Fixtures (first four rounds):

November 9: Perpignan v Newport Gwent Dragons, Ulster v Gloucester.

November 10: London Irish v Treviso, Ospreys v Bourgoin, Stade Francais v Harlequins, Viadana v Biarritz, Wasps v Munster, Edinburgh v Toulouse, Leinster v Leicester.

November 11: Cardiff Blues v Bristol, Saracens v Glasgow, Clermont Auvergne v Llanelli Scarlets.

November 16: Gloucester v Ospreys, Bourgoin v Ulster, Glasgow v Viadana.

November 17: Dragons v London Irish, Treviso v Perpignan, Harlequins v Cardiff Blues, Biarritz v Saracens, Llanelli Scarlets v Wasps, Leicester v Edinburgh.

November 18: Bristol v Stade Francais, Munster v Clermont Auvergne, Toulouse v Leinster.

December 7: Ospreys v Ulster, Bourgoin v Gloucester, Leinster v Edinburgh.

December 8: Treviso v Dragons, Harlequins v Bristol, Saracens v Viadana, Clermont Auvergne v Wasps, Llanelli Scarlets v Munster, Leicester v Toulouse.

December 9: London Irish v Perpignan, Stade Francais v Cardiff Blues, Glasgow v Biarritz.

December 14: Ulster v Ospreys, Biarritz v Glasgow.

December 15: Dragons v Treviso, Perpignan v London Irish, Gloucester v Bourgoin, Cardiff Blues v Stade Francais, Viadana v Saracens, Wasps v Clermont Auvergne, Edinburgh v Leinster.

December 16: Bristol v Harlequins, Munster v Llanelli Scarlets, Toulouse v Leicester.