The Ospreys and Newport Gwent Dragons have the toughest tasks of the four Welsh regions following the draw for next season's Heineken Cup.

The Dragons face current champions Toulouse, Wasps and Glasgow in Pool 6.

In Pool 3 the Ospreys play ex- winners Munster, London Irish and Toulon.

Cardiff Blues appear to have the better draw with Edinburgh, Northampton and Castres in Pool 1, while the Scarlets face English champions Leicester, Perpignan and Treviso in Pool 5.

The extra reward for a Welsh side winning through to the final next season is that the tournament's deciding game will be played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium in May.

Director of rugby Dai Young: "We've got a chance. There's no easy games in the Heineken Cup, you've got to be a quality team to even get into the draw, so we know it's a tough tournament.

"We know Edinburgh very well, obviously we play them every season [in the Magners League], we've played Northampton quite a bit over the past couple of seasons and we know their strengths.

"Castres is a little bit of an unknown quantity for us but at the end of the day there's probably four teams in our group who feel that they can win the group, so that's mouth-watering in itself.

"But if we play to our potential I'm a strong believer that it's going to take a good team to beat us.

"[Being among the first-tier seeds] is a recognition of how strong we've been in Europe over the past three or four years and if you look at the top tier we're amongst some big names there, so obviously we're thrilled with that.

"But in saying that it could have turned ugly for us as well, as being seeded doesn't always come out right - we could possibly even have had two French teams, which would have been hard work for us."

Rugby manager Rob Beale: "Glasgow Warriors we seem to be joined at the hip with over the last few seasons - that'll be four times again when we play them next season - but our record against Glasgow is exceptionally good in all competitions.

"Toulouse we played two seasons ago, it probably doesn't get any tougher. They're a fantastic side and probably one of the best sides in European if not world rugby, and we'll look forward to that trip and look forward to welcoming them to Rodney Parade.

"London Wasps, again a very big English side, played them in the LV Cup last season and acquitted ourselves very well.

"We're looking forward to it, we've qualified for this competition by right and it's important to us that we do the very best we can within the competition... our supporters want to see us playing these great teams at Rodney Parade.

"You look at a lot of those teams... and there's some huge budgets and some huge financial backing for those teams, but we have to be realistic and we've gone down the route of home-grown talent, developing that talent and last season it certainly paid dividends."

Head Coach Sean Holley: "We are used to tough draws after our experiences of the last couple of seasons, so the strength of this group comes as no surprise to us.

"It is European rugby's elite tournament and you have to be prepared to roll up your sleeves and face some big challenges.

"[Last season] saw our group featuring the sides who went on to become French, English and Celtic Champions plus the Italian runners up and it was a similar story the year before.

"We have managed to make the quarter-finals for the last three years and we'll be aiming to do the same next season.

"Toulon were always going to be the wildcard but the Blues showed this year [by beating them in the Amlin Cup final] that despite their star-studded squad they are beatable. They have huge resources though and I've no doubt that they will be even stronger next season.

"London Irish are a very good side, well coached and full of potential. In beating Leinster away this year and reaching the semi-finals in 2008 - where they lost narrowly to Toulouse - they have shown their capability on this stage.

"Munster are a European heavyweight and it will be good to have the big crowds and big occasions associated with the tradition they have."

Head coach Nigel Davies: "It's a really competitive group and it's great to have teams like Leicester in the group.

"Some people may think that's a bit of an odd statement to make but historically we've had some really competitive games against them, they are one of maybe three or four teams in Europe that are constantly at the top of their game and we know we'll have to raise our game considerably.

"Perpignan as well we've had some great encounters with them, it's a very difficult place to go and get anything out of but a great environment to play rugby in.

"Benetton Treviso will be an unknown quantity. I think they have a playing budget of something like 7m Euros, which will mean they're going to condense a lot of the Italian talent that they have, but they will also bring a lot of quality into that team with that budget.

"We've had to blood a lot of our younger players this season. What they will be is a year further down the road with a lot more experience.

"We've also got quite a lot of experience that we can add to the mix as well, providing that we don't suffer the same amount of injuries as over the last couple of seasons."

Pool 1: Cardiff Blues, Northampton, Edinburgh, Castres Olympique

Pool 2: Leinster, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Saracens, Racing Metro 92

Pool 3: Munster, Ospreys, London Irish, Toulon

Pool 4: Biarritz, Bath, Ulster, Aironi Rugby

Pool 5: Leicester, Scarlets, Perpignan, Benetton Treviso

Pool 6: Toulouse, London Wasps, Glasgow Warriors, Newport Dragons

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