Rugby – Magners League Fixtures:Ireland's Tommy Bowe will help the Ospreys kick-off the defence of their Magners League title with a trip to familiar territory when they open the tournament's 10th anniversary campaign against Ulster at Ravenhill in September.
Bowe was one of Ospreys’ two try scorers in their 17-12 Grand Final victory over Leinster in Dublin in May and also grabbed a vital bonus point try at his old stomping ground as Ospreys beat Ulster 38-27 in April to stay on course for the play-offs.
Grand Final runners-up Leinster travel to another of the play-off side, Glasgow Warriors, on the opening weekend and then host Cardiff Blues at the RDS in Round 2.
Munster will host Italian newcomers Aironi Rugby in their opening encounter with the match to played in either Cork or Limerick. The game will be a quick-fire return to Munster for New Zealand number eight Nick Williams, who was one of the big summer signings for the new Italian franchise.
Munster and Ospreys will clash in the third round of games and is scheduled for Thomond Park.
Connacht’s opening game is against Newport Gwent Dragons at the Sportsground.
Irish fans must wait until the fourth round of matches for their first provincial derby when Leinster host Munster and Connacht take on Ulster at the start of October.
Reigning Amlin Challenge Cup champions Cardiff will be seeking revenge for their home defeat last season when they host Edinburgh in their opening game at the Cardiff City Stadium. The two teams also meet at the same venue in the first round of the Heineken Cup a month later.
The introduction of the two new Italian franchises will take the number of teams in the Magners League back up to 12 for the first time since the 2003/04 season, when Welsh rugby moved to a regional system.
The increase in numbers means there will be four extra rounds of matches in the league phase. In order to accommodate this some games are scheduled to be played during the international windows in November and through the Six Nations Championship.
The 22 round league season kicks-off on the first weekend of September and runs until the weekend of May 6th, 2011. All games in Round 22 will kick-off simultaneously to ensure that no teams have advantage when vying for Play-Off places or European qualification.
The top four teams in the regular season will once again progress to the Play-Off semi-finals, which will be held on the weekend of May 13th. The Magners League Grand Final will be played on the weekend of May 27th, 2011.
At this stage the fixtures are weekend only dates. Specific dates, kick-off times and, in some cases, venues, will be released after consultation with the individual teams and the Magners League broadcast partners.