SCARLETS fans have found out who the region will be playing in next season’s European Challenge Cup.

The draw was made at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin at lunchtime today – June 28 – and sees the region drawn against the Cheetahs and Aviron Bayonnaise.

The Scarlets were placed in tier 1 going into the draw alongside Glasgow Warriors from the URC. Aviron Bayonnaise and Cheetahs were both in tier 3.

The Scarlets confirmed in a tweet that they will be playing the away leg against the Cheetahs in Europe rather than in South Africa.

The Cheetahs were invited into the competition for this year as a second South African side to compete. The Lions qualified for the competition through their rankings in the URC in the 2021-22 season.

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The Scarlets will play both teams home and away on dates yet to be announced, however, the weekend dates for the rounds have been revealed by the EPCR as shown below:

Round 1 – 9/10/11 December 2022
Round 2 – 16/17/18 December 2022
Round 3 – 13/14/15 January 2023
Round 4 – 20/21/22 January 2023
Round of 16 – 31 March/ 1/2 April 2023
Quarter-finals – 7/8/9 April 2023
Semi-finals – 28/29/30 April 2023
EPCR Challenge Cup final – Friday 19 May 2023 at Aviva Stadium, Dublin 

The three teams – Scarlets, Cheetahs and Aviron Bayonnaise – will be in Pool B with seven other teams – the Dragons, Benetton Rugby, Lions, Section Paloise, Wasps and Worcester Warriors.

The way the draw is calculated means that teams are not able to play against teams in their league during the four pool stages.