DRAGONS RFC will kick off their Challenge Cup campaign with a trip to Wasps in December.

Dai Flanagan's side were drawn against Wasps and French outfit Section Paloise in Pool B last month.

The fixture schedule has now been confirmed, although exact dates and times are yet to be finalised.

Dragons will travel to the Coventry Building Society Arena to take on Wasps in the second week of December before hosting Pau at Rodney Parade a week later.

They will play the return fixture in France in mid-January, before closing out the group stage at home to Wasps the following week.

The Dragons beat Pau home and away in the 2015/16 tournament while they faced Wasps in the Champions Cup in 2020 when hit hard by Covid absentees.

They beat the English side in a friendly in Coventry last summer and will welcome them to Newport ahead of the new season again on Friday, September 2.

Wasps finished ninth in England last season while Pau were 10th in the Top 14.

The competition is split into two pools of 10 – A and B – with the six highest-ranked clubs progressing to the round of 16 where they are joined by a quartet of Champions Cup sides.

The Dragons reached the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup in 2007, 2015 and 2016 and lost to Bristol in the last eight two years ago.

Last season they suffered a Euro whitewash after losing to Perpignan, Lyon, Benetton and Gloucester.

Dragons RFC key dates

Round 1 – 9/10/11 December 2022 – Wasps (A)
Round 2 – 16/17/18 December 2022 – Section Paloise (H)
Round 3 – 13/14/15 January 2023 – Section Paloise (A)
Round 4 – 20/21/22 January 2023 – Wasps (H)