Both Leinster and Ulster will begin the 2005/06 Heineken Cup pool stages at home in October, meanwhile Declan Kidney's Munster side are facing an away trip to Challenge Cup champions Sale.
Beaten by Biarritz in last year's quarter-finals, Munster will travel to Edgeley Park to open their Pool 1 account in the autumn, after the ERC today confirmed the early fixture lists.
Kidney's charges then take on Castres (home) and Newport-Gwent Dragons (away-and-home) pre-Christmas, before wrapping up their pool campaign in January with a visit to Castres and lastly, a Thomond Park tussle against Sale.
Leinster, also beaten quarter-finalists in 2004/05, kick-off their Pool 5 charge against familiar foes Bath, whom they defeated twice last season (30-11 and 27-23), at Lansdowne Road.
Michael Cheika's lot then travel to Glasgow before taking on Bourgoin in home-and-away ties before the end of the year. January will see Leinster welcome Glasgow back to Dublin, and the men in blue end the pool stages with a trip to Bath's famous Rec ground.
Ulster, meanwhile, should start with a Ravenhill win against Italian Super 10 side Benetton Treviso in October.
Tough fixtures against Biarritz (away) and Saracens (home-and-away) follow before the festive break. Mark McCall's men, who have each year failed to make the quarter-finals since their tournament win back in 1999, then take on Biarritz at Ravenhill, and travel to Treviso for the sixth round over the weekend of January 20-22.
The precise dates and kick-off times for all the Pool matches in the early rounds will be confirmed as soon as possible with the broadcaster partners in the UK, Ireland, France and Italy.
HEINEKEN CUP 2005/06 POOL FIXTURES:
ROUND 1 (October 21/22/23):
Pool 1: Sale Sharks v Munster Castres Olympique v Newport-Gwent Dragons
Pool 2: Cardiff Blues v Leeds Tykes Rugby Calvisano v Perpignan
Pool 3: Ospreys v Stade Francais Leicester Tigers v ASM Clermont Auvergne
Pool 4: Ulster Rugby v Benetton Treviso Saracens v Biarritz Olympique
Pool 5: Bourgoin v Glasgow Warriors Leinster v Bath Rugby
Pool 6: Toulouse v Llanelli Scarlets Edinburgh Rugby v London Wasps
ROUND 2 (October 28/29/30):
Pool 1: Munster v Castres Olympique Newport-Gwent Dragons v Sale Sharks
Pool 2: Leeds Tykes v Rugby Calvisano Perpignan v Cardiff Blues
Pool 3: Stade Francais v Leicester Tigers ASM Clermont Auvergne v Ospreys
Pool 4: Benetton Treviso v Saracens Biarritz Olympique v Ulster Rugby
Pool 5: Glasgow Warriors v Leinster Bath Rugby v Bourgoin
Pool 6: Llanelli Scarlets v Edinburgh Rugby London Wasps v Toulouse
ROUND 3 (December 9/10/11):
Pool 1: Castres Olympique v Sale Sharks Newport-Gwent Dragons v Munster
Pool 2: Rugby Calvisano v Cardiff Blues Leeds Tykes v Perpignan
Pool 3: Leicester Tigers v Ospreys ASM Clermont Auvergne v Stade Francais
Pool 4: Ulster Rugby v Saracens Biarritz Olympique v Benetton Treviso
Pool 5: Leinster v Bourgoin Bath Rugby v Glasgow Warriors
Pool 6: Edinburgh Rugby v Toulouse Llanelli Scarlets v London Wasps
ROUND 4 (December 16/17/18):
Pool 1: Sale Sharks v Castres Olympique Munster v Newport-Gwent Dragons
Pool 2: Cardiff Blues v Rugby Calvisano Perpignan v Leeds Tykes
Pool 3: Ospreys v Leicester Tigers Stade Francais v ASM Clermont Auvergne
Pool 4: Saracens v Ulster Rugby Benetton Treviso v Biarritz Olympique
Pool 5: Bourgoin v Leinster Glasgow Warriors v Bath Rugby
Pool 6: Toulouse v Edinburgh Rugby London Wasps v Llanelli Scarlets
ROUND 5 (January 13/14/15):
Pool 1: Sale Sharks v Newport-Gwent Dragons Castres Olympique v Munster
Pool 2: Cardiff Blues v Perpignan Rugby Calvisano v Leeds Tykes
Pool 3: Ospreys v ASM Clermont Auvergne Leicester Tigers v Stade Francais
Pool 4: Ulster Rugby v Biarritz Olympique Saracens v Benetton Treviso
Pool 5: Bourgoin v Bath Rugby Leinster v Glasgow Warriors
Pool 6: Toulouse v London Wasps Edinburgh Rugby v Llanelli Scarlets
ROUND 6 (January 20/21/22):
Pool 1: Newport-Gwent Dragons v Castres Olympique Munster v Sale Sharks
Pool 2: Perpignan Rugby v Calvisano Leeds Tykes v Cardiff Blues
Pool 3: ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leicester Tigers Stade Francais v Ospreys
Pool 4: Biarritz Olympique v Saracens Benetton Treviso v Ulster Rugby
Pool 5: Bath Rugby v Leinster Glasgow Warriors v Bourgoin
Pool 6: London Wasps v Edinburgh Rugby Llanelli Scarlets v Toulouse
Quarter-finals: April 1/2 Semi-finals: April 22/23 FINAL: Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, May 20/21