Edinburgh Rugby Heineken Champions Cup schedule announced: Opening tie away to three-time winners Saracens

Edinburgh will open their Heineken Champions Cup campaign with an away tie against three-time winners Saracens in December.

The fixture schedule was released on Thursday but exact dates and kick-off times have yet to be determined.

The Pool A game with Saracens will take place at StoneX Stadium in London on the weekend of 9 December.

Edinburgh will play their first home game the following weekend when they host Castres, the French Top 14 runners-up, at DAM Health Stadium.

The fixtures then reverse in the new year, with Edinburgh heading to France to take on Castres at Stade Pierre-Fabre on the weekend of 13 January before their final pool stage game against Saracens at home a week later.

Edinburgh beat Saracens at StoneX Stadium in last season’s European Challenge Cup, edging out the English giants 21-18. Both sides are back in the top-tier Champions Cup this time around. Edinburgh qualified through winning the Scottish-Italian Shield by finishing seventh in the United Rugby Championship. Saracens were second in the Gallagher Premiership and then lost to Leicester Tigers in a thrilling final at Twickenham.

“Today’s announcement really adds to the excitement and anticipation for what is set to be a massive season for us as a club,” said Mike Blair, the Edinburgh coach.

“Bringing Heineken Champions Cup rugby to DAM Health Stadium is something we’ve worked hard to achieve and we can now look forward to hosting two really strong and impressive sides in Castres and Saracens in front of our passionate home support.”

The 24 clubs who have qualified for the Champions Cup have been split into two pools of 12 and each will play four pool fixtures.

The eight highest-ranked clubs from each pool after the four rounds of games will