Harlequins to take on Wasps for LV Cup in Abu Dhabi

The tie at the Emirates Palace hotel in the capital means it will be the first time a competitive fixture between English clubs has been played outside Britain.

Wasps played Harlequins in the Aviva Premiership at Twickenham last month.

LONDON // Harlequins and Wasps, the Aviva Premiership rugby clubs, will reveal this afternoon that they will play each other in a ground-breaking fixture in Abu Dhabi on January 30.

Wasps, who clash with their London rivals in a Premiership fixture this Saturday, will face the Etihad-sponsored Harlequins in an LV Cup match at the Emirates Palace hotel in a landmark initiative for English rugby.

The match will be played under floodlights in a specially-constructed stadium that will hold around 5,000 spectators.

"As it is a home fixture for Wasps, they were the real driving force behind the match in Abu Dhabi," a spokesperson for Harlequins told The National. "Although we helped with the planning, we were asked to play the match there and were delighted to accept."

It will be the first time a competitive fixture between English clubs has been played outside Britain.

The game had to be sanctioned by the International Rugby Board because the newly created United Arab Emirates Rugby Association (UAERA), which took over from the Arabian Gulf RFU after it was disbanded at the end of 2010, is not a full member.

The West Asian representative of the IRB had to obtain a letter of no objection from the UAERA and that has been approved.

The game has also been sanctioned by the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

The LV Cup is the third priority for English clubs behind the Premiership and Heineken Cup and the relatively unimportant nature of the match is one of the reasons why the Emirates Palace hotel, and not the 43,000-capacity Zayed Sports City stadium, was chosen.

Also, due to the proximity of the Six Nations tournament, neither club will have their England or Wales players available as they will be preparing for the opening fixture between the two teams on February 4.

Both clubs have been among the pioneers in taking rugby matches beyond the borders of their home grounds.

The two sides played their opening fixture of the Premiership season at Twickenham stadium, while for the past three years Harlequins, who have been partnered with Abu Dhabi Harlequins since 2008, have played their home Christmas fixture at the headquarters of English rugby.

Last week, 74,212 turned up to watch them comfortably beat London Irish 28-18.

The move comes on the back of several sports exploring the possibility of playing matches in other countries to broaden their appeal and to allow expansion into other markets.

The NFL has staged three regular-season matches in London since 2007, when 81,000 fans watched the New York Giants beat the Miami Dolphins 13-10 at Wembley Stadium in the first regular season game played outside North America.

In February 2008, the chief executive of England's Football Association proposed a 39th round of English Premier League matches that would be played on a weekend in January in different cities around the world.