Four Principality Premiership sides, each representing a Welsh region, will again take part in this year’s cross-border competition, which kicks off in October.
The draw means Wales’ clubs now know who they will be up against in the competition if they win their regional play-offs which take place at the end of the summer, just before the Principality Premiership kicks off.
The results of the draw will see the winner of the Blues play-off (Wales 2) feature in Pool 1 of the competition alongside English duo London Scottish and Bristol along with Connacht.
The winner of the Ospreys play-off final (Wales 4) will enter Pool 2 which contains Rotherham Titans, Leeds Carnegie and Ulster Ravens. Pool 4 will include the winner of the Dragons play-offs (Wales 1) alongside Cornish Pirates, Donacaster Knights and Bedford Blues, while the winner of the play-off final in the Scarlets region (Wales 3) will enter Pool 5 alongside current title-holders Leinster A, Plymouth Albion and Jersey RFC.
The Blues representative – last year’s semi-finalists Pontypridd or Cardiff – will kick off their British & Irish Cup campaign with a home clash against London Scottish on the weekend of October 11, followed by a trip across the Irish Sea to face Connacht.
The Ospreys and Dragons teams also begin at home against Ulster and Doncaster respectively before travelling to Rotherham and Bedford in Round 2.
The Scarlets team will have to travel to Jersey in Round One before welcoming Plymouth Albion to west Wales the following weekend.
Chris Clarke, chairman of the Premiership clubs said, “The Premiership clubs are supporters of the tournament and welcome the prestige it brings to our league and the contribution to the development of the players who take part in it.”
The play-offs to determine which Principality Premiership side will represent each rugby region will take place on Saturday 30 August and Saturday 6 September (fixtures below).
The new structure of the 2014/15 British and Irish Cup sees the four Welsh sides compete against 12 English clubs from the Greene King IPA Championship as well as four provincial teams from Ireland.
The 20 sides will compete in five pools of four with the competition kicking off on 11 October 2014.
Pools
Pool 1: London Scottish, Wales 2 (Cardiff or Pontypridd), Bristol Rugby, Connacht
Pool 2: Rotherham Titans, Leeds Carnegie, Ulster Ravens, Wales (Aberavon/ Bridgend/ Neath)
Pool 3: Worcester Warriors, Nottingham Rugby, Moseley, Munster ‘A’
Pool 4: Wales 1 (Bedwas / Cross Keys/ Ebbw Vale / Newport), Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights, Bedford Blues
Pool 5: Leinster ‘A’, Plymouth Albion, Wales 3 (Carmarthen Quins / Llandovery / Llanelli), Jersey RFC
British & Irish Cup fixtures Round 1 – 10/11/12 October
Pool 1 Wales 2 v London Scottish, Bristol Rugby v Connacht
Pool 2 Leeds Carnegie v Rotherham Titans, Wales 4 v Ulster Ravens
Pool 3 Nottingham Rugby v Worcester Warriors, Munster ‘A’ v Moseley
Pool 4 Cornish Pirates v Bedford Blues, Wales 1 v Doncaster Knights
Pool 5 Plymouth Albion v Leinster ‘A’, Jersey RFC v Wales 3
Round 2 – 17/18/19 October
Pool 1 London Scottish v Bristol Rugby, Connacht v Wales 2
Pool 2 Rotherham v Wales 4, Ulster Ravens v Leeds Carnegie
Pool 3 Worcester Warriors v Munster ‘A’, Moseley v Nottingham Rugby
Pool 4 Bedford Blues v Wales 1, Doncaster Knights v Cornish Pirates
Pool 5 Leinster ‘A’ v Jersey RFC, Wales 3 v Plymouth Albion
Round 3 – 24/25/26 October
Pool 1 Connacht v London Scottish, Bristol Rugby v Wales 2
Pool 2 Rotherham Titans v Ulster Ravens, Leeds Carnegie v Wales 4
Pool 3 Moseley v Worcester Warriors, Nottingham Rugby v Munster ‘A’
Pool 4 Doncaster Knights v Bedford Blues, Cornish Pirates v Wales 1
Pool 5 Wales 3 v Leinster ‘A’, Plymouth Albion v Jersey RFC
Round 4 – 28/29/30 November
Pool 1 London Scottish v Connacht, Bristol Rugby v Wales 2
Pool 2 Rotherham Titans v Ulster Ravens, Wales 4 v Leeds Carnegie
Pool 3 Worcester Warriors v Moseley, Munster ‘A’ v Nottingham Rugby
Pool 4 Bedford Blues v Doncaster Knights, Wales 1 v Cornish Pirates
Pool 5 Leinster ‘A’ v Wales 3, Jersey RFC v Plymouth Albion
Round 5 – 5/6/7 December
Pool 1 Wales 2 v Connacht Bristol Rugby v London Scottish
Pool 2 Leeds Carnegie v Ulster Ravens, Wales 4 v Rotherham Titans
Pool 3 Nottingham Rugby v Moseley, Munster ‘A’ v Worcester Warriors
Pool 4 Cornish Pirates v Doncaster Knights, Wales 1 v Bedford Blues
Pool 5 Plymouth Albion v Wales 3, Jersey RFC v Leinster ‘A’
Round 6 – 12/13/14 December
Pool 1 London Scottish v Wales 2, Connacht v Bristol Rugby
Pool 2 Rotherham Titans v Leeds Carnegie, Ulster v Wales 4
Pool 3 Worcester Warriors v Nottingham Rugby, Moseley v Munster ‘A’
Pool 4 Bedford Blues v Cornish Pirates, Doncaster Knights v Wales 1
Pool 5 Leinster ‘A’ v Plymouth Albion, Wales 3 v Jersey RFC
Quarter-finals: 23/24/25 January Semi-finals: 13/14/15 March Final: 3/4/5 April
British & Irish Cup Play-Off fixtures for Welsh clubs (Semi-finals Sat 30 August, Finals Sat 6 Sep):
Dragons region
Semi-finals:
Cross Keys (1) v Ebbw Vale (4)
Bedwas (2) v Newport (3)
Final to be played at the home of the winner of Cross Keys v Ebbw Vale
Blues region
Play-Off Final only (Sat 6 Sep)
Pontypridd (1) v Cardiff (2)
Ospreys region
Semi-final:
Aberavon (2) v Neath (3)
Bridgend (1) will play the semi-final winner at the Brewery Field
Scarlets region
Semi-final:
Llandovery (2) v Llanelli (3)
Carmarthen Quins (1) will play semi-final winner at Carmarthen Park
