WORCESTER Warriors are hoping their European Challenge Cup away fixture against Russian side Enisei-STM will take place in Sochi or Krasnodar.

Chief executive Jim O’Toole said the Sixways club still had to finalise discussions with the Russian club before announcing dates for all their group fixtures.

Warriors are in Pool 3 with the Russians, French Top 14 outfit Brive and Welsh region Newport Gwent Dragons from the Guinness PRO12.

Enisei-STM is located on the Yenisei River and the third largest city in Siberia.

And Warriors would prefer a trip to Sochi which is on the Black Sea coast near the border between Georgia/Abkhazia and Russia.

“There’s a little bit of a debate with our Russian friends at the moment,” said O’Toole “They have almost as far to travel to the Sochi area as we do from the UK.

“Their home pitch is on the same time-zone as Shanghai which presents its own problems and they are trying to consolidate their home games over a short period of time in Krasnodar or Sochi.

“They can play two matches at a time but it would need to be woven into our domestic calendar because we do not want to have three away games on the bounce because it affects lots of stuff.”

Enisei-STM are not a team to be taken lightly after winning two of their Challenge Cup fixtures last season, including the scalp of Worcester’s Aviva Premiership rivals Newcastle Falcons.

Warriors high performance director Nick Johnston said: “The Sochi area is an 11 or 12 hour flight from the UK and the climate is better.

“Hopefully, we are not going to get a Siberian winter but it will be an adventure, a new challenge and a new experience for everybody.

“We are pretty excited about our first trip to Russia because it exposes our players to a different culture and hopefully our fans who can make the trip.”

Johnston added: “I understand the club are looking to put some sort of travel programme to encourage the fans to go to the match because it will be a good experience for them. There are not many people who can say they have watched a game of rugby in Russia.”