The Ospreys were drawn in Pool 2 of the 2016/17 Challenge Cup alongside Grenoble, Newcastle Falcons and Lyon – here’s our handy fact guide to our opponents…
GRENOBLE
Full name: Football Club de Grenoble Rugby
Where: a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère
Founded: 1892
Home venue: Stade des Alpes
Colours: Blue (home) Red (Away)
Coach: Bernard Jackman
Last season: Losing semi-finalists in Challenge Cup after topping pool and defeating Connacht in the last eight
Players of note: Fabien Barcella, Aly Muldowney, Gio Aplon
Head-to-head: This will be the first time that the Ospreys and Grenoble have met
Played for both: Although no Ospreys have played for Grenoble, Swansea and Neath prop, Stuart Evans, and former Swansea scrum half Sam Cordingley have both played for Grenoble
NEWCASTLE
Full name: Newcastle Falcons
Where: a city in Tyne and Wear, North East England, on the northern bank of the River Tyne, Newcastle is the most populous city in the North East and forms the urban core of Tyneside, the eighth most populous conurbation in the United Kingdom.
Founded: 1877
Home venue: Kingston Park
Colours: Black (Home) White (Away)
Coach: Dean Richards
Last season: Finished second in their Challenge Cup pool, behind Connacht but ahead of Brive and Enisei STM
Players of note: Scott Lawson, Juan Pablo Socino, Vereniki Goneva, Alex Tuilagi
Head-to-head: The Ospreys and Newcastle have previously met on just one occasion, an LV= Cup game at Kingston Park in 2010/11. Falcons won 18-17 after a late penalty from Matthew Jarvis missed the target
Played for both: Second rows James Goode and Filipo Levi and scrum half, Jason Spice, have all represented the two teams. Former Falcons prop Oliver Tomaszczyk also signed for the Ospreys at the start of last season but left without playing a game for the region
LYON
Full name: Lyon Olympique Universitaire
Where: Lyon is a city in east-central France, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
Founded: 1896
Home venue: Matmut Stadium
Colours: Black (Home) Red (Away)
Coach: Pierre Mignoni
Last season: Secured promotion back to the T14 at the first attempt, racing away with the PRO D2 title by an incredible 31 point margin from Bayonne in second place
Players of note: Julien Bonnaire, Frederic Michalak, Napolioni Nalaga, Delon Armitage
Head-to-head: One previous game between the two sides, a 2011 pre-season fixture played in Chens Sur Leman at the home of Swiss club Hermance RRC, a young Ben John scoring the Ospreys’ only try in a 38-10 defeat
Played for both: Springbok scrum half, Ricky Januarie ended his top class career with Lyon, while hooker, Huw Bennett, signed for the French club in 2012, only for injury to prevent him from wearing a Lyon shirt, retiring the following year
Admission to all three European Challenge Cup home games in the pool stage is included in the 2016-17 Ospreys season membership, with prices starting at just £109 for adult renewals ahead of the earlybird deadline on Saturday 9th July.
Season memberships also cover all 11 regular season scheduled home matches in the Guinness PRO12 as well as the pre-season fixture against Leicester Tigers on Friday August 12th, 7.15pm KO.
For more information on season memberships or to sign up now please visit ospreysrugby.com/2016membership now!