The pools for next season’s new British &Irish Cup competition are announced today and feature some mouth-watering clashes.

The Thistles – a team drawn from Scottish Rugby’s National Academy, plus players from the Edinburgh and Glasgow pro-teams – are in Pool A where they will face Cornish Pirates, Plymouth Albion, Exeter Chiefs, Leinster and Newport.

Winners of the Scottish Hydro Electric Cup and runners-up in Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership Division One, Heriot’s, are in Pool C, where their opponents are Bristol Rugby, Coventry, Nottingham, Munster and Neath.

Ayr, winners of the Scottish Hydro Electric Premiership Division One, are in Pool D where they have been drawn against Rotherham Titans, Doncaster Knights, Birmingham & Solihull, Pontypridd and Cardiff.

The pool matches will be played over five weekends during the Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Tests and RBS 6 Nations Championship windows with the semi-finals on 24 April and the final on 15 May. Details of the specific fixtures will be announced shortly.

Stephen Gemmell, Scottish Rugby’s National Academy Manager, said: “We’re in a tough pool and the players will have to cope with the implications of travel and different environments.

“But the exciting thing for me is that there are teams in our pool from all three of the other home countries and that means our players will be asked different questions and have to adapt to contrasting playing styles.

“The one team that stand out are Leinster, having just won the Heineken Cup, and we know about the standard of their rugby and that they have a strong structure.

“For our academy players they have to step up to the mark and show they have the aspirations and ability to play at professional level . . . and they’ll be judged by the Edinburgh and Glasgow coaching teams on how they perform in the British & Irish Cup.”

Heriot’s coach Bob McKillop welcomed the draw. He said: “We’re genuinely delighted to have got Munster, what a challenge. It will be interesting to renew acquaintance with our former second-row forward Ian Nimmo, who is now at Nottingham, and it’s exciting to be up against such famous rugby names. In all, it represents a fantastic opportunity for our players.”

Ayr coach Kenny Murray said: “We’re very excited by our draw. We didn’t expect there would be any easy games given the teams involved but we have a massive opportunity to get the Ayrshire public behind us for big cross-border matches.

“I know there’s a bit of scepticism about the British & Irish Cup but I also know that nobody involved in the coaching and playing at Ayr is under-estimating the challenge we face. Above all we’re regarding this as a brilliant opportunity for us as players and coaches to test ourselves at this level.”

The pools are completed by Pool B which comprises Moseley, Bedford Blues, London Welsh, Ulster, Aberavon and Llanelli.

This article was originally posted on 28-May-2009, 11:57 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 28-May-2009, 12:14.