The five Pool winners will progress into the quarter-finals where they will be joined by three Pool runners-up from the Heineken Cup.
“Perpignan is a team that our players know and they have obvious ambition,” said Dragons Head Coach Darren Edwards. “Their signing of James Hook shows this and they are sure to be a big challenge for us. If Hook is at ten for Perpignan, it will be a great challenge for Jason Tovey to pitch himself against another Welsh outside half.
“Obviously it will be significant for Danny Lydiate going back to Perpignan (Lydiate suffered a broken neck during the Men of Gwent’s last outing to Perpignan in the 2007 Heineken Cup) But Danny is a high-collision player anyway and having gone into the international setup and been so successful I’m sure he’ll take this in his stride.”
The Men of Gwent are also joined in pool 4 by Exeter Chiefs and Italian outfit Cavalieri Prato.
Amlin Challenge Cup 2011 / 2012 Pools
Pool 1: Stade Francais Paris, Worcester Warriors, Crociati Parma, Bucharest Wolves
Pool 2: Toulon, Newcastle Falcons, Petrarca Padova, Lyon Rugby
Pool 3: London Wasps, Bayonne, Femi-CZ Rovigo, Bordeaux-Begles
Pool 4: Perpignan, Newport Gwent Dragons, Exeter Chiefs, Cavalieri Prato
Pool 5: Sale Sharks, Brive, Agen, Club de Rugby La Vila
Amlin Challenge Cup 2011/12 Dates
ROUND 1 – 10/11/12/13 November 2011
ROUND 2 – 17/18/19/20 November 2011
ROUND 3 – 8/9/10/11 December 2011
ROUND 4 – 15/16/17/18 December 2011
ROUND 5 – 12/13/14/15 January 2012
ROUND 6 – 19/20/21/22 January 2012
QUARTER-FINALS – 6/7/8 April 2012
SEMI-FINALS – 27/28/29 April 2012
The 16th Amlin Challenge Cup Final – 18/19/20 May 2012
