With the Rugby Champions Cup and Challenge Cup fixtures announced, confirmation of the September playoffs involving teams from Eastern Europe were confirmed.
The playoffs will be played over two legs on September 20 and 27 and the reward will be to compete in the first Rugby Challenge Cup season.
The Georgian team will be an all new regional representative team under the name of Tbilisi Caucasians set to be officially launched this week. They will be the first ever team to represent the reigning ENC champions in the continent's leading European domestic setup.
Tbilisi Caucausians will travel to play Italian side Rovigo at the Stadio Mario Battaglini before hosting them a week later at an undetermined venue, possibly the small Avchala Stadium.
The side is a complete unknown quantity in terms of performance, and will not have a great deal of time together to prepare so would probably be considered underdogs against one of stronger teams in Italy.
Meanwhile Romania's representative has been the cause of frustration and infighting. Champions Timisoara were thought to be keen to compete, yet the Union's side the Bucharest Wolves ended up getting put forward on a confusing basis of not meeting certain regulations regarding the squad size and players involved. Timisoara got frustrated and a leaked letter threatened to take action, only to be toned down massively with a gentler statement on their website.
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| Bucharest Wolves playing Calvisano in October 2013 |
The Bucharest Wolves won't have the foreign players or time together that the club side would, but have a reasonably positive record against Italian opposition over the last couple of seasons. Calvisano will be a familiar opponent to them having drawn them in the past 2 Amlin Challenge Cups, last season the Wolves won both games, the season before they split them 1 each with the Wolves winning aggregate by 1 point.
The details of a third tournament to decide teams in the playoffs are still yet to be known, with Rugby Europe stating on Twitter that they would announced next month.
September Playoffs:
Playoff 1: Tbilisi Caucasians vs Rovigo
Playoff 2: Bucharest Wolves vs Calvisano
Played over 2 legs on 20 & 27 September
European Rugby Challenge Cup:
Pool 1: Cardiff Blues, London Irish, Grenoble, Winner of Playoff 1
Pool 3: Stade Français, Dragons, Newcastle, Winner of Playoff 2
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