The Anglo-Welsh cup is now sponsored by LV= (insurance company Liverpool Victoria as was) but it keeps the slightly-odd format. In order to have four matches (two home, two away) teams are drawn in pools of four but don't play the teams in their pool but the one paired to it.
The pools are paired 1-4 and 2-3 which makes my OCD hurt but I'll just have to deal with it. The idea is actually quite clever but it does mean that towards the end of the pool stages you have a lot of teams who care about the result playing teams who really don't.
As ever, it's uncertain as to whether Irish will be going out to achieve in this competition or whether, as it has been in the past, they'll use it to blood a few new players and try stuff out.
With the fixtures now agreed it leaves us only waiting for the Heineken Cup fixtures to complete the season ahead.
Pool 1 Leicester Tigers London Wasps Newcastle Falcons Cardiff Blues
Pool 2 Saracens London Irish Leeds Carnegie Dragons
Pool 3 Northampton Saints Gloucester Rugby Sale Sharks Scarlets
Pool 4 Bath Rugby Harlequins Exeter Chiefs Ospreys
London Irish Fixtures
November 5/6/7 - Sale Sharks v London Irish November 12/13/14 - London Irish v Scarlets January 28/29/30 - London Irish v Northampton Saints February 4/5/6 - Gloucester Rugby v London Irish
Unless TV companies step-in it's fair to expect the Sale game will be on Friday evening. Reading are at home for the Saturday of the Saints game so that's likely to be the Sunday but the return of our Welsh bogey-team Scarlets may be either Saturday or even Friday. The Gloucester game is almost certainly on the Saturday.
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