The countdown is on as the British & Irish Cup enters ground-breaking territory next week as Regional Premiership Select teams enter the cross-border competition for the first time.
The Ospreys Premiership Select XV will face London Scottish, Munster A and Yorkshire Carnegie in Pool 3 where head coach Dan Griffiths believes the tournament is a great opportunity for coaches as well as players.
“This is a fantastic opportunity for some of the young talent that is out there in the region playing for our clubs, one that those fortunate enough selected should be looking to take full advantage of” he said.
“It'll be tough coming together as a squad of players to compete at a high level with some professional squads, but it's going to be an exciting campaign. It's also a great opportunity for a young coaching team to come to terms with the unique challenges of leading a team in a competition like this and we're looking forward to it."
The Ospreys Premiership Select will play their home games at the three different Premiership club grounds, with the Brewery Field, Gnoll and Talbot Athletic Ground, with admission to all three matches covered by an Ospreys season membership.
First up in Pool 3 is a trip north to face Yorkshire Carnegie at Laund Hill, Huddersfield on Sunday 15th November (1.30pm KO) before the first home game sees London Scottish visit the Talbot Athletic Ground on Friday 20th November, kicking off at 7.30pm.
Round 3 sees the team travel to face Munster A (venue TBC) on Friday 11th December (7.00pm KO) before the return fixture will be held at the Brewery Field on Sunday 20th December (3.00pm KO).
On Saturday 16th January London Scottish welcome the Ospreys Premiership Select to the Athletic Ground (3.00pm) before Pool 3 rounds off with a home game at the Gnoll against Yorkshire Carnegie on Sunday 23rd January, 2.00pm KO.
The new teams will benefit from live television coverage throughout the competition with S4C broadcasting one Welsh Regional Premiership Select fixture per round for as long as a Welsh side remains in the competition.
The S4C television coverage begins with Scarlets v Bedford on Sunday November 15 kick off 3pm.
English language commentary will be available through the Red Button option on S4C, which is available throughout the UK on platforms such as Sky, Freesat and Virgin Media.
S4C Sports Editor Sue Butler said: “S4C is delighted to provide live coverage of the new Regional Premiership Select teams in the British & Irish Cup competition. It adds greatly to our wide-ranging rugby portfolio which includes live and highlights coverage from the grassroots such as colleges rugby to the Six Nations and the Rugby World Cup.”