RaboDirect PRO12 Previews Round 1: It’s here at last, the new RaboDirect PRO12 season kicks off on Friday night with three tough fixtures. INCLUDES AWESOME 10 PAGE Stat Based PDF DOWNLOAD

The honour of hosting the first game in the renamed competition will be shared between the Liberty Stadium and Ravenhill where both games kick-off at 7.05pm. Last season’s finalists, Leinster, are the visitors to Swansea where they will be hoping to reverse the outcome of the 2009/10 final, when Ospreys took the title.

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Over in Belfast, Ulster, who reached the Play-Offs last season, welcome Scottish opposition in Glasgow Warriors with both teams no doubt looking for a good start to their 2011/12 campaign. The final fixture on Friday evening sees the second Scottish team in action when Edinburgh host the first Cardiff Blues team without Dai Young at the helm.

Reigning champions, Munster, are in action Saturday evening with Newport Gwent Dragons the visitors to Musgrave Park, a venue where the home team have not lost a game in this tournament since May 2008.

There is also action in Italy on Saturday, where Connacht, who were top of the table after the first round last season, take on Benetton Treviso.

The round wraps up in Wales on Sunday when Scarlets host Aironi. Having lost out to Italian opposition, Benetton Treviso, in the opening round in last year’s competition, Scarlets will be anxious to avoid a repeat result, whilst Aironi are still looking for that elusive first away win.

For full match previews see the attached PDF file: