Georgia happy to be joining the party

The Challenge Cup is being used to widen boundaries. A Georgian side, Black Lion which will play its home matches in Tbilisi, has been included while the Cheetahs will be based in Amsterdam rather than South Africa.

Amsterdam is one of the venues being considered for the Champions and Challenge Cup finals in 2025, along with Lisbon following the surge in the sport's popularity there following Portugal's impressive showing in the recent World Cup.

The Challenge Cup has come a distant second to the Champions Cup in terms of popularity over the years with several French clubs in particular treating it as a development tool as they focus on the league.

The opening weekend will see a fixture worthy of the Champions Cup with the Sharks entertaining Pau at King's Park in Durban.

The Sharks made a poor start to their United Rugby Championship campaign, losing their first four matches. The first four were on the road but the fifth was at home to Connacht.

They were without their South African World Cup contingent who retur ned for the 69-14 mauling of the Dragons in Durban. They include second row Eben Etzebeth, Ox Nche, Grant Williams and Lukhanyo Am.

Pau flirted with relegation last season, but the arrival of outside-half Joe Simmonds from Exeter has seen them rise up the table. They started the current round of matches second behind Racing 92 on points difference and Simmonds became the first player in the Top 14 to pass 100 points this season.

Simmonds' brother, Sam, will also be involved in the Challenge Cup having joined Montpellier from the Chiefs. Their first fixture is at Newcastle in a meeting of two clubs who at the end of last month sat at the bottom of their respective leagues.

Montpellier's poor start prompted the dismissal of head coach Richard Cockerill, but they have won the tour nament twice and in a group which includes fellow Top 14 Perpignan, the Lions, the Ospreys and Treviso, will look to use it to play themselves into form.

Black Lion start their Challenge Cup venture at home to Gloucester. “This is a huge moment for Georgia rugby and for the country,” said Ioseb Tkemaludze, the Georgian union's president.

“We have been working hard for this for many years, on the pitch and behind the scenes. We are grateful to the tour nament organisers for taking a lead and showing the vision that is needed to further the global development and growth of the game.”

The Challenge Cup contains three groups of six sides. The top four in each will qualify for the last 16, along with the four teams who finish fifth in their Champions Cup pools.