EUROPEAN rugby's first comprehensively structured professional season will kick off in six countries Jon August 16th.
The marathon 40 week cam features set dates for Test matches, Five Nations Championship fixtures, Heineken Cup and European Conference action, plus domestic league and cup competitions.
It finishes on May 23rd 1998, and will be adopted in England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy.
Plans have also been confirmed for a 20 team Heineken Cup, not 16 as initially preferred by some English and French clubs, while the pool stages include home and away games in five groups of four.
Pool winners go into the November 8th and 9th quarterfinals, joined by three play off victors from the previous weekend, with semi finals on December 20th and 21st and the final scheduled for January 31st.
ERC chief executive Roger Pickering said the unsponsored, second tier European Conference could be increased from 24 to 28 clubs, featuring substantial British and French representation, plus Italian and Romanian combinations.
Discussions are continuing about inviting the national sides from emerging European nations such as Belgium, Spain and Holland.
