Rugby:The road map to the Aviva Stadium was laid out this afternoon with the Heineken Cup organisers announcing the dates for next year's competition. The final, which will return to Dublin for the first time since 2003, will take place on Saturday, May 18th.
The opening round of pool matches, delayed until November this season as a result of the World Cup in New Zealand, will move back to their traditional October dates with the first fixtures taking place on the weekend of October 11th, 12th and 13th.
Leinster, Munster and Ulster will all compete in next year’s competition with Connacht’s involvement in the top tier dependent on an Irish province taking the silverware this season. Failing that, Eric Elwood’s side will revert to the Amilin Challenge Cup. Those fixtures will take place on the corresponding weekends.
2012/13 Heineken Cup & Amlin Challenge Cup dates
Round 1– 11/12/13/14 October 2012
Round 2– 18/19/20/21 October 2012
Round 3– 6/7/8/9 December 2012
Round 4– 13/14/15/16 December 2012
Round 5– 10/11/12/13 January 2013
Round 6– 17/18/19/20 January 2013
Quarter-finals– 4/5/6/7 April 2013
Semi-finals– 26/27/28 April 2013
Finals– 17/18/19 May 2013
