Scarlets open Heineken Cup campaign at home

The Scarlets will kick off their 2010/2011 Heineken Cup campaign with a home fixture at Parc y Scarlets against French giants Perpignan.

 

Scarlets supporters are set for a great Saturday afternoon’s entertainment as Europe’s premier rugby competition comes to Llanelli on Saturday 9th October kicking off at 3.45pm.

 

The Scarlets will play Guinness Premiership Champions Leicester Tigers, Perpignon, who topped the French league in 2009/10 and Italian champions Benetton Treviso in next season’s Heineken Cup in pool five of the competition.

 

Excitement is already building for the new season with Scarlets season tickets now well past the 3,000 mark in the first month of sales – with a significant number of new season ticket holders taking advantage of the great offers.

 

The Scarlets Heineken Cup fixtures are:

* Saturday 9th October Scarlets v Perpignon 3.45pm at Parc y Scarlets
* Sunday 17th October Leicester Tigers v Scarlets: 3pm at Welford Road
* Saturday December 11th Scarlets v Benetton Treviso: 3pm at Parc y Scarlets
* Saturday 18th December Benetton Treviso v Scarlets: 2.35pm (local time) at Stadio Communale de Monigo

 

The Scarlets will then play Leicester Tigers at Parc y Scarlets on the weekend of 14/15/16 of January with the concluding pool match away at Perpignan on the weekend of 21/22/23 January at the Stade Aimé Giral.

 

The Tigers, finalists in two of the last four Heineken Cup seasons and winners in 2001 and 2002 have a great European pedigree and have met the Scarlets on five occasions in the Heineken Cup including the semi-finals in 2002 and 2007.

 

Perpignan topped the French league in 2009/10 but lost in the final to first-time winners Clermont Auvergne in a reverse of the result 12 months earlier. The Scarlets have played them three times in the Cup before in 2001/2002 season pool stages and 2003 quarter-final at Stradey Park.

 

Italian champions seven times in the last decade, Benetton Treviso retained the Super 10 title after final victory over Viadana last month and while in a tough group last season, the Italians recorded a 9-8 victory over Perpignan in round one.

 

Scarlets Head Coach Nigel Davies said: “The fixtures fall quite well for us and to open up with a home fixture will be great for our supporters and we would hope to gain from an early home advantage, however we know Perpignon are a very strong team with a great rugby playing heritage.

 

“We follow-up with a second round against Leicester away – who’ve been our big European rivals in the past. They consistently perform well in this competition and there’s with some great history between the two clubs – so that will be a real contest and something to look forward to.

 

“We’re building an exciting squad here that combines experience with the energy and talent of some great young players. Our senior internationals will be important for our European campaign – particularly the big French and Tigers contests, to provide leadership and consistency. That said, our younger players are one year further down the road and will have learnt a lot from their experiences in Europe last season, which we fully expect them to build on.

 

“The teams we are up against will motivate and excite this Scarlets squad and forces us to drive ourselves on and raise the bar. Our league form will be a key focus for us next season and we would hope to have a good run early on and go into Europe on a positive note.”

 

Scarlets Commercial Director, Rupert Moon said: “This is an exciting line-up of Heineken Cup games for us both at home and away and great for us to open up our European campaign at home.

 

“We are working hard to make match day experience at Parc y Scarlets even bigger and better than last season, which includes our popular indoor Supporters Village. There is nothing like the atmosphere on Heineken Cup days and to have a Saturday afternoon opener at home is something we can all look forward to on October 9th.

 

“We’re playing clubs with great European traditions as well as entertaining the Italians for the first time here and with drama of the competition to get everyone going and I’m sure we’ll see our supporters in the very best of spirits and in fine voice.”