The Ospreys celebrate their Magners League Grand Final triumph over Leinster

The Ospreys will begin their Magners League title defence with a trip to Ulster on Friday, 3 September.

The Swansea-based side will host Italian champions Benetton Treviso at the Liberty Stadium in their opening home fixture on Friday, 10 September.

They then travel to face Heineken Cup rivals Munster at Thomond Park on Saturday, 18 September.

The Ospreys clinched their crown by beating Leinster 17-12 in last season's Grand Final in Dublin.

Also heading to Ireland in the opening weekend of the league's 10th anniversary season will be the other Italian newcomers Aironi Rugby/

The newly formed club will play the first competitive match in their history against Munster on Saturday, 4 September.

That game will mean a quick-fire return to Munster for New Zealand number eight Nick Williams, who was one of the big summer signings for the new Italian franchise.

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While Aironi, who have also recruited a host of Italian internationals, are away for their first Magners League outing, Benetton Treviso will entertain Llanelli Scarlets at Stadio di Monigo on Saturday, 4 September.

Amlin Challenge Cup champions Cardiff Blues will be seeking revenge for their home defeat last season when they host Edinburgh in their opening game at the Cardiff City Stadium on 4 September.

The two teams also meet at the same venue in the first round of the Heineken Cup a month later.

The introduction of the two new Italian franchises will take the number of teams in the Magners League back up to 12 for the first time since the 2003/04 season, when Welsh rugby moved to a regional system.

Leinster travel to another of last season's play-off sides, Glasgow Warriors, on the opening weekend, then host Cardiff Blues in the second round of fixtures on 11 September.

The increase in numbers means there will be four extra rounds of matches in the league phase of the tournament.

In order to accommodate this, some games are scheduled to be played during the international windows in November and during the Six Nations championship in February and March.

The 22-round league season runs through until the weekend of 6 May. All games in the final round will kick-off simultaneously to ensure that no teams have advantage when chasing play-off places or European qualification.

The top four teams in the regular season will then progress to the play-off semi finals, which will be held on the weekend of 13 May.

The Grand Final will be played on the weekend of 27 May.

ROUND 1

Friday, 3 September
Glasgow Warriors v Leinster (BBC ALBA, 1905 BST)
Ulster v Ospreys (BBC NI, 1905 BST)

Saturday, 4 September
Connacht v Newport Gwent Dragons (1730 BST)
Benetton Treviso v Scarlets (1805 BST)
Cardiff Blues v Edinburgh (S4C, 1830 BST)
Munster v Aironi Rugby (1930 BST)

ROUND 2

Friday, 10 September
Edinburgh v Munster (BBC ALBA, 1905 BST)
Ospreys v Benetton Treviso (BBC Wales, 1905 BST)

Saturday, 11 September
Llanelli Scarlets v Connacht (1500 BST)
Aironi Rugby v Ulster (1805 BST)
Leinster v Cardiff Blues (1830 BST)

Sunday, 12 September
Newport Gwent Dragons v Glasgow Warriors (S4C, 1610 BST)

ROUND 3

Friday, 17 September
Glasgow Warriors v Connacht (1930 BST)
Llanelli Scarlets v Aironi Rugby (BBC Wales, 2005 BST)
Ulster v Edinburgh (BBC NI, 2005 BST)

Saturday, 18 September
Benetton Treviso v Leinster (1805 BST)
Cardiff Blues v Newport Gwent Dragons (S4C, 1830 BST)
Munster v Ospreys (2000 BST)

ROUND 4

Friday, 24 September
Benetton Treviso v Cardiff Blues (1805 BST)
Edinburgh Rugby v Leinster (BBC Alba, 1905 BST)
NG Dragons v Llanelli Scarlets (BBC Wales, 1905 BST)
Glasgow Warriors v Munster (1930 BST)

Saturday, 25 September
Connacht v Ulster (1930 BST)
Ospreys v Aironi Rugby (S4C, 1830 BST)

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