Scottish joy at Heineken Cup draw

Scotland's two representatives have avoided the big guns in the draw for the group stage of next season's Heineken Cup.

Glasgow Warriors have been drawn against Gloucester, Newport Gwent Dragons and Biarritz in Pool Two.

Edinburgh take on Bath, Stade Francais and Ulster in Pool Four.

The champions of Europe (Leinster), Magners League (Munster), France (Perpignan) and England (Leicester, the Euro runners-up) are in other groups.

The draw in Paris was seeded, with 24 teams from six nations split into four tiers.

Bath, who lost to defeated finalists Leicester at the quarter-final stage of the Heineken Cup, are the seeded team in Edinburgh's pool.

Biarritz were the seeded team in Pool Two with Glasgow.

"I think it is a really good draw for Edinburgh"

And Warriors head coach Sean Lineen is relishing the challenge and looking to get off to a flier after a disappointing start to last year's competition.

"The draw presents a great opportunity for us," he said.

"The players are a year older now and it really gets the juices flowing when you see the quality of the teams we have been drawn against.

"Those two opening defeats last year really took the wind out of our sails, so I'm really excited about going in and making our mark in next year's competition. Bring it on."

Both Bath and Ulster are former winners of the premier competition in northern hemisphere rugby, while Stade Francais, who have recently recruited former Edinburgh full-back Hugo Southwell, have lost in the final twice before.

Edinburgh vice-captain Allister Hogg told his club website: "I think it is a really good draw for Edinburgh. We know it will be tough, but we've got a good chance and everyone will be looking forward to the challenge.

"I've never played Stade before, so that should be interesting, especially with Simon Taylor and Shuggy there.

"We beat Bath in a warm-up match last season, although they will be very difficult to beat and we know Ulster really well from our meetings in the Magners League."

606: DEBATE

" Pool Five looks very hard to get out of - the group of death "

Leinster have been drawn alongside London Irish, Scarlets and Brive.

Leicester face Ospreys, Clermont Auvergne and Viadana in Pool Three.

Cardiff Blues, Sale, Harlequins and three-time champions Toulouse are all in a tough-looking Pool Five.

Last season's Heineken Cup semi-finalists Munster face Perpignan, Northampton and Treviso in Pool One.

Heineken Cup 2009/10 draw:

Pool 1
Munster (Ire)
Perpignan (Fra)
Northampton (Eng)
Treviso (Ita)

Pool 2
Biarritz (Fra)
Gloucester (Eng)
Newport Gwent Dragons (Wal)
Glasgow (Sco)

Pool 3
Leicester (Eng)
Ospreys (Wal)
Clermont Auvergne (Fra)
Viadana (Ita)

Pool 4
Bath (Eng)
Stade Francais (Fra)
Ulster (Ire)
Edinburgh (Sco)

Pool 5
Toulouse (Fra)
Cardiff Blues (Wal)
Sale (Eng)
Harlequins (Eng)

Pool 6
Leinster (Ire)
London Irish (Eng)
Scarlets (Wal)
Brive (Fra)

Heineken Cup fixtures:

Round One: 9-11 October

Round Two: 16-18 October

Round Three: 11-13 December

Round Four: 18-20 December

Round Five: 15-17 January

Round Six: 22-24 January

Quarter-finals: 9-19 April

Semi-finals: 1-2 May

Final: 22 May (Stade de France)

RELATED INTERNET LINKS:
Scrum V homepage
Your say - 606
ERC - European Rugby
Rugby webguide
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites