Connacht have been drawn with Heineken Cup semi-finalists London Irish in the group stages of the 2008/2009 European Challenge Cup.
They will also play the Italian team Rugby Rovigo. Their final opponent will be Dax or Albi. Albi are currently appealing a decision that would rule them out of the competition from French Rugby authorities and if this fails Dax will take their place.
Newcastle Falcons and Brive will continue their European Challenge Cup rivalry when the 13th season of the tournament kicks-off on the second weekend in October.
The two clubs will contest Pool 4 along with Overmach Rugby Parma and Cetransa El Salvador.
Worcester Warriors, beaten finalists last month, are up against Bourgoin, Petrarca Rugby and Romanian side Bucuresti Oaks in Pool 3.
The draw was conducted using the new ERC European Ranking system based on the qualified teams' performances and participation in the Heineken Cup and knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup over the past four seasons.
The 20 teams who qualified for the 2008 / 2009 competition were graded into four Tiers of five teams each with each of the five Pools having one team from each of the four Tier levels.
Teams from the same country were kept apart in the Pools with the exception of the sixth and seventh ranked teams from France (Toulon and Stade Montois) and the sixth ranked team from England (Bristol) who could be drawn with teams from the same country.
European Challenge Cup Pools 2008 / 2009
POOL 1: London Irish, Connacht Rugby, Dax/Albi, Rugby Rovigo
POOL 2: Northampton Saints, Bristol Rugby, Montpellier, Toulon
POOL 3: Bourgoin, Worcester Warriors, Petrarca Rugby, Bucuresti Oaks
POOL 4: Newcastle Falcons, Brive, Overmach Rugby Parma, Cetransa El Salvador
POOL 5: Saracens, Viadana, Bayonne, Stade Montois Rugby
European Challenge Cup 2008 / 2009 Tiers
Tier 1: Saracens, London Irish, Northampton Saints, Newcastle Falcons, Bourgoin
Tier 2: Worcester Warriors, Brive, Bristol Rugby, Connacht Rugby, Viadana
Tier 3: Montpellier, Overmach Parma, Bayonne, Dax*/Albi*, Petrarca Rugby
Tier 4: Rugby Rovigo, Toulon, Stade Montois Rugby, Bucuresti Oaks, Cetransa El Salvador
Fixtures
Round 1 - 10 / 11 / 12 October, 2008
Round 2 - 17 / 18 / 19 October, 2008
Round 3 - 5 / 6 / 7 December, 2008
Round 4 - 12 / 13 / 14 December, 2008
Round 5 - 17 / 18 / 19 January, 2009
Round 6 - 24 / 25 / 26 January, 2009
Quarter-finals - 10 / 11 / 12 April, 2009
Semi-finals - 1 / 2 / 3 May, 2009
13th European Challenge Cup final - 22 / 23 / 24 May, 2009
