Rugby: Friday nights alright for pro teams

Glasgow will have to play on Sundays at Firhill in the Heineken Cup this season, however in the fixtures released for the first four months of the league, the popular Friday night rugby at Firhill and Murrayfield is back on the agenda.

It was also announced yesterday that Edinburgh and Glasgow will meet each other in the first leg of the 1872 Cup on Boxing Day - Monday 26 December - at Murrayfield, with the return match the following week still to be confirmed.

Glasgow open their season away to Ulster, which will mean a swift return for their summer signing Tommy Seymour, while Edinburgh welcome Cardiff to Murrayfield on the opening night, Friday 2 September.

With six of Edinburgh's games being played at home before Christmas, all on a Friday night bar one, new head coach Michael Bradley believes the home advantage will give his side the best possible start to the 2011/12 campaign.

"We are delighted to start the season at home against Cardiff Blues. This is a fantastic opportunity to put our best foot forward and begin the year on a high," he said yesterday.

"In the first half of the season the majority of our games are going to be played at Murrayfield. Therefore if we are able to maintain the home advantage throughout this period it will leave us in a good position going into the second half of the year."

He added: "The boys have trained extremely hard throughout the summer and they are in good shape to start their campaign. The pre-season has been slightly longer this year but I believe it will pay dividends as we stake our claim in the inaugural RaboDirect PRO12. We all can't wait to start."

His counterpart at Glasgow, Sean Lineen, meanwhile, has backed his players to translate their "hugely encouraging" pre-season work into a positive start to the competitive action.

"It's great to have the fixtures confirmed, because we now know the exact point when we'll get the opportunity to put into action everything we've been working so hard on over the summer," said Lineen.

"If the attitude, hunger and application the guys have shown in the last couple of months is any guide, we'll be absolutely ready for the Ulster match when it rolls around.We'll be looking to hit the ground running, and the fantastic level of fitness we've achieved over the summer puts us in a good position to do that.

"Head strength and conditioning coach Stuart Yule and his team have done an outstanding job, and having the fittest possible group of players on the park is an excellent starting point in terms of the exciting brand of rugby we want to play."

Glasgow's first home game of the season is against Munster on Friday 9 September - a repeat of their first home match of the 2009/10 campaign, when they beat the men from Limerick 22-9 - and Lineen added: "It's some game for our crowd to have first up - we always have a cracker against Munster. Two years ago we had a good win.

"The boys are itching to get out on the pitch and show the pride they have in the Glasgow jersey, and the coaches are the same: we can't wait to get started."

GLASGOW

Friday 2 September (7.05pm)

Ulster v Glasgow

At Ravenhill

Friday 9 September (7.30pm)

Glasgow v Munster

At Firhill

Saturday 17 September (6pm)

Leinster v Glasgow

At RDS

Friday 23 September (7.30pm)

Glasgow v Treviso

At Firhill

Saturday 1 October (6.30pm)

Cardiff Blues v Glasgow

At Cardiff City Stadium

Friday 7 October (7.30pm)

Glasgow v Dragons

At Firhill

Friday 28 October (7.05pm)

Glasgow v Ospreys

At Firhill

Saturday 5 November (2.30pm, local time)

Aironi v Glasgow

At Stadio Zaffanella

Friday 25 November (7.35pm)

Glasgow v Ulster

At Firhill (broadcast on BBC Alba)

Sunday 4 December (4.30pm)

Dragons v Glasgow

At Rodney Parade

Monday 26 December (5.35pm)

Edinburgh v Glasgow

At Murrayfield (Broadcast on BBC Alba)

EDINBURGH

Friday 2 September (7.30pm)

Edinburgh v Cardiff Blues

At Murrayfield

Saturday 10 September (6.30pm)

Ospreys v Edinburgh

At Liberty Stadium

Friday 16 September (7.30pm)

Edinburgh v Connacht

At Murrayfield

Saturday 24 September (3pm)

Aironi v Edinburgh

At Stadio Zaffanella

Friday 30 September (7.30pm)

Edinburgh v Munster

At Murrayfield

Friday 28 October (7.35pm)

Edinburgh v Leinster

At Murrayfield (Broadcast on BBC Alba)

Saturday 5 November (3pm)

Treviso v Edinburgh

At Stadio Monigo

Saturday 26 November (8.30pm)

Munster v Edinburgh

At Thomond Park

Friday 2 December (7.30pm)

Edinburgh v Aironi

At Murrayfield

Monday 26 December (5.35pm)

Edinburgh v Glasgow

At Murrayfield (Broadcast on BBC Alba)

More info: www.scottishrugby.org