Connacht will open the new RaboDirect Pro 12 season with a home fixture against the Cardiff Blues in the first of two clashes with Welsh opposition in the opening month.
They will also host the Scarlets two weeks later, in between which they will travel to Italy to take on the new competition entrants Zebre, whom they will also meet in this year’s Heineken Cup pool matches.
The first of the interprovincial fixtures takes place at the end of the opening month with Connacht hosting Leinster, followed by a visit to Ravenhill. The traditional Christmas interprovincials sees Connacht hosting Munster on the weekend of December 21-23 before travelling to Dublin to meet Leinster on December 28-30.
Connacht will finish off the Pro 12 season with two home fixtures against Ulster and the Glasgow Warriors but have a tough three away fixtures to Munster, Treviso and Edinburgh in succession.
