Worcester Warriors face away trips to Irish province Leinster and tournament newcomers Currie in the British & Irish Cup – and also host reigning champions Cornish Pirates as part of a home triple header.
Warriors have been handed an exciting cup draw that will kick-off on home soil on Sunday, December 12 (kick-off 3pm) when the team will come face-to-face with Newport at Sixways Stadium.
Worcester will travel to Edinburgh for the second game of the competition on the weekend of December 18 (full details to be confirmed) to face Scottish outfit Currie RFC. Warriors will play at Malleny Park, the home of the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership 1 champions.
Richard Hill’s men – who join fellow newcomers Melrose, Esher, Llandovery and Swansea in the tournament this season – will next travel overseas on the weekend of January 15 to face Leinster at Donnybrook (full details to be confirmed).
Worcester complete the pool stages with home games against Plymouth Albion on Saturday, January 22 (kick-off 3pm) and Cornish Pirates in Saturday, February 26 (kick-off 3pm). Pirates lifted the inaugural trophy last month after beating Munster 23-14 at Camborne's Recreation Ground.
Supporters are reminded that all THREE home cup games form part of the Season Ticket package for 2010/11/ For further details contact the Warriors Box Office on 01905 454183 or click HERE
There will be five rounds as last season but an additional quarter final stage has been added with the top two from each pool progressing to the last eight.
Terry Burwell, British & Irish Cup Director, said: “The inaugural British & Irish Cup was very positively received and gave players, coaches, referees and spectators a different level of competition to what they are used to.
“Anyone who was at the final or saw it on Sky Sports saw the appetite for cross-border cup rugby and I am sure this tournament, just like the Heineken Cup in its early days, will go from strength to strength
“We have kept the same pool framework and reversed last season's fixtures wherever possible as we promised and we have included a quarter-final so that there is a greater opportunity for more teams to progress to the knockout stages.”
Pools:
Pool A: Cornish Pirates, Currie, Leinster, Newport, Plymouth Albion, Worcester Warriors
Pool B: Bristol Rugby, Esher, Llanelli, Melrose, Munster, Nottingham Rugby
Pool C: Bedford Blues, London Welsh, Moseley, Neath, Swansea, Ulster
Pool D: Ayr, Birmingham & Solihull, Doncaster Knights, Llandovery, Pontypridd, Rotherham Titans
Fixtures:
Round 1: Sunday, December 12 (kick-off 3pm) – Worcester Warriors v Newport
Round 2: Weekend of December 18 – Currie v Worcester Warriors (Further details TBC)
Round 3: Weekend of January 15 – Leinster v Worcester Warriors (Further details TBC)
Round 4: Saturday, January 22 (kick-off 3pm) – Worcester Warriors v Plymouth Albion
Round 5: Saturday, February 26 (kick-off 3pm) – Worcester Warriors v Cornish Pirates
Quarter finals, March 5
Pool A Winner v Pool C Runner Up
Pool C Winner v Pool A Runner Up
Pool B Winner v Pool D Runner Up
Pool D Winner v Pool B Runner Up
Semi finals, April 23
Final, May 7
Background
Teams
* 12 English RFU Championship clubs (Bedford Blues, Birmingham & Solihull & Solihull, Bristol Rugby, Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights, Esher, London Welsh, Moseley, Nottingham Rugby, Plymouth Albion, Rotherham Titans, Worcester Warriors)
* top 6 Welsh Principality Premiership clubs (Llanelli, Llandovery, Neath, Newport, Pontypridd, Swansea)
* 3 Irish provinces – Munster, Leinster and Ulster Ravens
* 3 Scottish teams – top 3 finishers in Premier 1 (Ayr, Currie and Melrose). The Gael Force team will no longer continue.
Pool Stages
* 4 pools of 6 playing once (5 matches/rounds)
* 4 points for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 bonus point for either a) scoring 4 or more tries or b) losing by 7 points or less
Quarter finals
* top two in each pool progress to knockout stage
* pool winners have home advantage
Semi finals and final
* four winning quarter finalists progress to semi final draw
* winning semi finalists progress to final