EDF Energy Cup draw
The Scarlets, finalists at Twickenham in 2006, have been drawn in Pool D and will have the advantage of playing two of their three games at Stradey Park – against Leeds and Saracens. Their away day will take them to Bristol.
Last season’s beaten finalists, the Ospreys, will kick-off with an away trip to Worcester Warriors on Saturday October 27th. That means a clash for many of their Welsh internationals with former Grand Slam Wales Coach Mike Ruddock, now in charge of the Warriors.
The Ospreys will host London Irish at the Liberty Stadium in round two and will travel to the Twickenham Stoop to face Harlequins in their final group match.
The Dragons will host reigning Heineken Cup champions London Wasps at Rodney Parade in their first round match. They will then travel to Newcastle before entertaining Guinness Premiership runners-up Gloucester in round three.
The Blues have another date with reigning Guinness Premiership and EDF Energy champions Leicester Tigers in Group B. The two teams clashed twice in the Heineken Cup last season with the Tigers winning on both occasions. Dai Young’s side will kick-off with a home clash with Sale Sharks before facing trips to Leicester and Bath in the latter rounds.
The tournament format has changed slightly for its third season with regional Pools having been abandoned. The first two rounds of fixtures are on successive weekends, with the final group round on November 30th/December 1st, the semi-finals on March 22nd, and the final on April 8th.
The October 27th Worcester v Ospreys game will be the showpiece BBC live television match on the opening weekend, with the November 3rd Leicester v Blues match shown seven days later.
Of the Welsh regions, the Scarlets and Dragons have two home and one away fixture in the pool rounds, while the Blues and Ospreys will have to travel twice.
EDF Energy Anglo-Welsh Cup 2007-2008
Pool A: Dragons, London Wasps, Gloucester, Newcastle Falcons
Pool B: Blues, Bath, Sale Sharks, Leicester Tigers
Pool C: Ospreys, Harlequins, Worcester Warriors, London Irish
Pool D: Scarlets, Leeds Tykes, Saracens, Bristol
Round One: 26th-28th October 2007
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Dragons v Wasps | Bath v Leicester | London Irish v Harlequins | Bristol v Scarlets |
| Gloucester v Newcastle | Blues v Sale | Worcester v Ospreys* | Leeds v Saracens |
*27th October 2007, live on BBC
Round Two: 2nd-4th November 2007
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Newcastle v Dragons | Leicester v Blues* | Harlequins v Worcester | Scarlets v Leeds |
| Wasps v Gloucester | Sale v Bath | Ospreys v London Irish | Saracens v Bristol |
*3rd November 2007, live on BBC
Round Three: 30th November-2nd December 2007
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Dragons v Gloucester | Bath v Blues | London Irish v Worcester | Bristol v Leeds |
| Wasps v Newcastle | Leicester v Sale | Harlequins v Ospreys | Scarlets v Saracens |
Semi-Finals: 22nd March 2008
Final: 8th April 2008
Fixtures, dates and times are subject to late change
