Champions Cup: Scarlets and Dragons learn European draws

Dragons and Scarlets in action in August 2020

Scarlets face a rematch with Toulon in the European Champions Cup with the two sides set to meet seven times in a four-season spell.

They will also face Bath home and away, after the teams shared the honours in the 2017-18 season.

Dragons will take on French side Bordeaux and English Premiership finalists Wasps.

The European group stages will be reduced from six to four matches per team in December and January.

The 2020-21 Heineken Champions Cup season will feature 24 teams and home and away quarter-finals for the first time.

The changes, enforced by the Covid-19 pandemic, are on an exceptional basis for this campaign.

The 24 teams will be split into two pools of 12, with eight teams from the Premiership, Pro14 and Top 14.

There will be four rounds of pool matches, with no teams from the same league playing each other.

Scarlets lost 11-6 in the Challenge Cup quarter-final away to Toulon in September after two other defeats in the 2019-20 group stages.

"Gee whiz, it's almost like Groundhog Day isn't it?," laughed Scarlets coach Glenn Delaney on learning of the Toulon rematch.

"We know these guys really well, we've played a lot of European rugby against them and we've just had a quarter-final against them.

"They're a wonderful adversary and I think both clubs enjoy playing each other, two passionate sets of supporters, both in red, so we're really excited and happy about that."

Ken Owens in action for Scarlets against Toulon in the Challenge Cup quarter-final defeat in September

Scarlets and Bath both won away from home in 2017-18, while Delaney also knows the West Country club from his time at London Irish.

"We've got some recent history with those guys, again a side slowly building under a new coaching group, guys I know really well," Delaney told BBC Sport Wales.

"They're a very set-piece-orientated team who look to get their scrum and their power game going, in some respects typical of an English Premiership side, and the Rec is one of the greatest grounds to go to in the competition."

Dragons back

The Dragons, ranked in the lowest tier of seeds for their first action in the European top flight since 2011, were destined to face top-two sides from England and France.

They avoided defending European and English champions Exeter Chiefs and will face Wasps instead, while they shared the results against Bordeaux-Begles in the 2017-18 season pulling off a shock 33-17 win at Rodney Parade.

"We're just really excited to be at this level of the tournament, Bordeaux are a fantastic club and we've got links with Naz (Luke Narraway) having coached there.

"I've got plenty of links back at Wasps, but I'm really excited to be going up against a side that have been on a fantastic trajectory over the last three or four months under Lee Blackett. For the first time it feels more real, knowing who we've got as opposition," Ryan told BBC Sport Wales.

The Dragons have reached three European Challenge Cup semi-finals and were quarter-finalists in September, but their best Champions Cup season of three wins from six was 16 years ago- so can Ryan's side be serious competitors?

"I think we can give anybody a serious game but we need all our best players available and we need to be at our best. We've got a big international window before then and we hope we can get them back in and ready.

"We haven't dwelled on being daunted by who they (our opponents) are, we're going to enjoy it and we're excited to experience what Champions Cup rugby looks like."

Details of the European Challenge Cup fixtures for Cardiff Blues and the Ospreys are yet to be announced.