Dates set for Euro's next instalment
Wed, 23 Apr 2008 23:39
European Rugby Cup (ERC), the organisers of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup, on Wednesday revealed the dates for next seasons' tournaments - with the big European kick-off reverting to October, following the later start this season to compensate for the World Cup last year.
The Heineken Cup semifinals at Twickenham Stadium and the Ricoh Arena are just a few days away, with the Cardiff 2008 Heineken Cup Final and climax of the 13th season of Europe's premier club tournament being staged at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday, May 24.
And while the three biggest games of this season's tournament have still to be played, the 14th season of the Heineken Cup will kick off on the second week of October - with the Pool stages again played over three weekend blocks of two rounds of matches each.
The second block of Pool matches will be played in early December, following the November international matches and the final block in January.
There will be three week intervals between the quarterfinals in April and the semifinals in May and between the semifinals and Final on the weekend of May 22/23/24.
The 2008/2009 Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup weekends:
2008
ROUND 1: 10/11/12 October
ROUND 2: 17/18/19 October
ROUND 3: 5/6/7 December
ROUND 4: 12/13/14 December
2009
ROUND 5: 16/17/18 January
ROUND 6: 23/24/25 January
QUARTERFINALS: 10/11/12 April
SEMIFINALS: 1/2/3 May
FINALS: 22/23/24 May
