Cardiff Blues will open their LV=Cup campaign with a home match against Worcester on the weekend of the 9th of November
Following the fixture announcement, Cardiff Blues Director of Rugby Phil Davies said,
“It’s an exciting pool and certainly challenging.”
“We play the Ospreys again, on top of our derbies, which is good.
“Bath have some outstanding world class players and Worcester are a club I know well, they’ve had a change of coaching there and have recruited heavily.
“Harlequins are one of the biggest teams in England and are current champions of the competition, so it’s a massive challenge for us.
“We’ve developed from last season and this year for me the players have to step up and get consistency on the field, using those experiences that we had last year to do well in the completion.
“We have a squad of 43 players with half the squad under 23 years of age. Some have come into this environment for the first time. Players like Ellis Jenkins and Aled Summerhill have stepped up from the Academy to the developing Blues.
“We’ve also got guys like Owen Williams and Rhys Patchell who came through last year for us.
“We will be utilising the squad throughout the year because you have three competitions and need to manage three teams within one squad.”
Entry to Cardiff Blues LV=Cup Cup home pool matches are included as part of the season ticket package that costs from as little as £185 for adults. Supporters can purchase or renew their season tickets by visiting www.cardiffblues.com/tickets or by calling the ticket office on 02920 302030.
2013-14 LV= Cup
Pool 1
Saracens
Gloucester Rugby
London Irish
Newport Gwent Dragons
Pool 2
Leicester Tigers
Exeter Chiefs
Sale Sharks
Cardiff Blues
Pool 3
Harlequins
Bath Rugby
Worcester Warriors
Ospreys
Pool 4
Northampton Saints
London Wasps
Newcastle Falcons
Scarlets
Fixtures
Round 1 – 8/9/10 November
London Wasps v Saracens
Northampton Saints v Gloucester Rugby
Newcastle Falcons v London Irish
Scarlets v Newport Gwent Dragons
Exeter Chiefs v Harlequins
Leicester Tigers v Ospreys (Friday November 8, KO 19:45, Live on Sky Sports)
Sale Sharks v Bath Rugby
Cardiff Blues v Worcester Warriors
Round 2 – 15/16/17 November
London Irish v Northampton Saints
Newport Gwent Dragons v London Wasps
Saracens v Scarlets
Gloucester Rugby v Newcastle Falcons
Bath Rugby v Exeter Chiefs (Sunday November 17, KO 15:00 Sky Sports)
Worcester Warriors v Leicester Tigers
Harlequins v Sale Sharks
Ospreys v Cardiff
Round 3 – 24/25/26 January
Scarlets v Gloucester Rugby
London Wasps v London Irish
Saracens v Newcastle Falcons
Newport Gwent Dragons v Northampton Saints
Bath Rugby v Cardiff Blues
Exeter Chiefs v Ospreys
Harlequins v Leicester Tigers
Sale Sharks v Worcester Warriors
Round 4 – 31/1/2 January/February
Gloucester Rugby v London Wasps
London Irish v Scarlets
Newcastle Falcons v Newport Gwent Dragons
Northampton Saints v Saracens
Leicester Tigers v Bath Rugby
Worcester Warriors v Exeter Chiefs
Cardiff Blues v Harlequins
Ospreys v Sale Sharks
Semi Finals – 7/8/9 March
The pool winner with the best playing record will be at home against the pool winner with the fourth best playing record in Semi Final 1.
The Pool Winner with the second best playing record will be at home against the pool winner with the third best playing record in Semi Final 2.
LV= Cup Final - 16 March
Final venue to be confirmed.
Competition format:
The LV= Cup is a 16-team competition involving the 12 Aviva Premiership Rugby clubs and 4 Welsh regions
Played in four pools of four with three English clubs and one Welsh region in each pool
English clubs have been allocated to the pools depending on their finish in last season's Aviva Premiership Rugby competition
Welsh regions have been allocated to the pools to avoid repeating fixtures from the Heineken and Amlin Challenge cups where possible
Teams in Pool 1 play teams in Pool 4 and teams in Pool 2 play teams in Pool 3
Each team plays four pool matches - two home and two away - with the top team from each pool qualifying for the semi-finals.