- Week-end local Gleeson League results, scores and scorers
- Newcastle West shock Enniscorthy in All-Ireland Cup opener
- Sweet win for Young Munster in Cork: Garryowen’s late victory
- High-scoring AIL game sees Shannon continue 1B winning run
- Connacht show up some weaknesses in Munster’s armour
- Munster make just three changes as they take on Connacht in Galway
- No room for Simon Zebo a questionable decision by the Irish selectors
- Connacht seeking a third win on the trot as Munster visit the Showgrounds
- Garryowen and Constitution will meet three times this season
- A look at the Champions/Challenge Cups apres Round Two
- Reflections on another Champions Cup win at Thomond Park
- End of season departure for Munster player Simon Zebo
- St Mary’s maintain their league challenge: Richmond draw
- Defence and hunger to win eventually breaks down the Racing 92 Thomond Park challenge
- All-local official line-up for Montpellier and Exeter cup tie
- The loss of key players is a worry for Rassie’s Munster tomorrow
- Richmond and St Mary’s at home this Sunday in Junior Leagues
- 16th man can again play its part as Munster face Racing 92
- Garryowen’s Mike Sherry starts for Munster A in Cork
- All the details of the opening round of the Champions Cup
- IRFU/Ulster Bank ‘Your Club Your Country’ Grand Draw update
- Limerick junior clubs ‘blown out’ of cups over the week-end
- Proud Munster live up to their image with well-deserved draw
- Clonakilty run riot in the last quarter to ease past St Mary’s
- Munster A team for their visit to Swansea is named
- Zebo at full-back, Mark Flanagan gets first start v Castres
- Some interesting facts about European Champions Cup journey
- Munster will want to avoid a ‘one win out of four’ statistic
- Johaan van Graan is appointed the new Munster coach
- Charlie O’Neill is Old Crescent’s new Junior Vice President
- Wins for four Limerick clubs in today’s Junior Leagues
- AIL: Garryowen, Young Munster, Thomond and Bohs beaten
- Leinster win the bragging rights in relatively tame derby
- Experimental Munster are hoping their backs gamble pays off
- Robin could be eyeing a second-row spot with the Reds
- Taute a major loss for Munster as bad knee injury rules him out
- Anthony Foley programme raises €35K for charitable causes
- Exciting lock forward Tadhg Beirne to join Munster next season
- League wins for Richmond, St Mary’s and Newcastle West
- Double success for locals in Ulster Bank 1A and 1B
- Second-half rout gives improved Munster a winning bonus point
- It’s time to bounce back as Munster release their hungry Lions
- New name in the ring for Munster job
- Eagle-eyed local rugby fan breaks Munster’s new coach story
- It’s a three week ban for Munster’s Fineen Wycherley
- Hurting Munster hope to bounce back against Cardiff Blues
- Good start for Abbeyfeale and Richmond as MJL 1 kicks off
- Young Munster are creaking at the early stages of the AIL
- Last night’s Ulster Bank All-Ireland League results
- Scotstoun nightmare for Munster as Warriors make them pay
Munster away to Castres in opening Champions Cup tie
- Updated: 22/08/2017
MUNSTER will travel to Castres, a venue very familiar to their fans over the past 17 years, for their opening European Champions Cup game.
This will be played on Sunday, October 15 with a 2.00 pm local time kick-off. On the previous Friday night Ulster will entertain Wasps in Kingspan Stadium (7.45) and on Saturday, October 14 Leinster will be at home to Montpelier, kick-off 1pm.
Champions Cup holders, Saracens, will be looking to become only the second club in history to secure a European three-in-a-row when they kick off their 2017/18 campaign against long-time rivals, Northampton Saints, at Franklin’s Gardens on Sunday, 15 October.
The all-Aviva Premiership clash live on BT Sport is only one of a series of mouthwatering confrontations in the fixtures schedules for Rounds 1 to 4 of the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup which have been announced by tournament organisers EPCR.
Scarlets, last season’s Guinness PRO12 winners, will travel with confidence to Stade Félix Mayol to take on the might of RC Toulon live on Sky Sports in a Sunday, 15 October fixture which will feature Leigh Halfpenny’s return to his old stamping ground.
Premiership champions, Exeter Chiefs, host Glasgow Warriors at Sandy Park on Saturday, 14 October in Pool 3, while last season’s tournament runners-up and TOP 14 winners, ASM Clermont Auvergne, continue their search for ultimate European glory against the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Sunday, 15 October.
Ulster Rugby will be determined to improve on their 2016/17 pool stage performance when they go head-to-head with Wasps at the Kingspan Stadium in the opening Champions Cup tie of the season on Friday, 13 October, and Harlequins are up against tournament first-timers La Rochelle at The Twickenham Stoop the following day.
Highlights of the crucial back-to-back clashes include a repeat of last season’s final between Saracens and Clermont, while Leinster Rugby against Exeter is certain to pack them in to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium in Round 4 on Saturday, 16 December.
In addition, the December meetings of European warhorses, Leicester Tigers and Munster Rugby, as well as the match-ups between two more former tournament winners, Bath Rugby and Toulon, are guaranteed to heat up the pre-Christmas chill.
All 40 matches in Rounds 1 to 4 of the Champions Cup will be broadcast live in the UK and Ireland on either BT Sport or Sky Sports, and all games will be covered in France either live or delayed by beIN Sports and France Télévisions.
Holders Stade Francais Paris will open their Challenge Cup defence with an away trip to tournament newcomers Krasny Yar of Russia on Saturday, 14 October, and Switzerland will stage a Round 1 match when Oyonnax meet Connacht Rugby at the Stade de Genève on the same day.
The European season kicks off with the clash of last season’s defeated finalists, Gloucester Rugby, and Pau at Stade du Hameau on Thursday, 12 October live on Sky Sports.
The dates, kick-off times and TV coverage for the Round 5 and 6 fixtures in both tournaments will be announced in December following the completion of the Round 4 matches.
EPCR weekends
Round 1: 12/13/14/15 October
Round 2: 19/20/21/22 October
Round 3: 7/8/9/10 December
Round 4: 14/15/16/17 December
Round 5: 11/12/13/14 January 2018
Round 6: 18/19/20/21 January 2018
Quarter-finals: 29/30/31 March – 1 April 2018
Semi-finals: 20/21/22 April 2018
2018 Bilbao Finals
Challenge Cup final: Friday 11 May, San Mamés Stadium
Champions Cup final: Saturday 12 May, San Mamés Stadium
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