Edinburgh open Euro bid with trips to Madjeski and Moscow

Edinburgh Rugby will kick off their European Challenge Cup campaign with back-to-back away fixtures.

New Edinburgh coach Richard Cockerill. Picture: Alan Harvey/SNS

Their opening match in Pool 4 is against London Irish on Saturday 14 October at Madjeski Stadium. A week later, Richard Cockerill’s side face a trip to Russia to take on last year’s Continental Shield winners, Krasny Yar, at Fili Stadium, Moscow.

New coach Cockerill told the club’s website: “Every European fixture is tough, but we face a real challenge in opening our campaign with two away matches. Both London Irish and Krasny Yar weren’t in the competition last year, and they’ll be looking to prove a point and make an impression in the opening rounds.

“We need to ensure that we hit the ground running, starting with a big performance down at the Madejski in October.”

Rounds three and four will be played at Myreside, with London Irish visiting on Saturday 9 December (7.35pm) and Krasny Yar making the trip to the capital on Friday 15 December (7.35pm).

The final two pool games will be in a January double-header against defending champions, Stade Francais. The exact dates are yet to be confirmed, with the home game on 11/12/13/14 January at BT Murrayfield and the away match the following weekend at Stade Jean-Bouin in Paris.