Brian McClennan revealed his excitement at the prospect of stepping into the unknown when his side face Celtic Crusaders.
Leeds coach excited by Welsh encounter
Leeds Rhinos coach Brian McClennan revealed his excitement at the prospect of stepping into the unknown as his side were drawn against
Celtic Crusaders in the fourth round of the Carnegie Challenge Cup.
Rhinos are second favourites to take the crown away from holders St Helens, and McClennan believes experience will be the key when the two sides meet at Headingley Carnegie in April.
"It will be exciting to face a team from Wales and to face a side who we have never played against before," he said.
"We have got some experienced guys in our squad so firsts are pretty rare at this stage in their career!
"I am sure Celtic Crusaders will be keen to make their mark with their ambitions to come into Super League so we know they will put up a tough battle."
The Crusaders will be hoping the fixture is a taste of things to come with the National League One side currently in the process of submitting Super League licence applications.
Calibre
Crusaders chief executive David Thompson said: "This is just why we were formed two years ago.
"We want to play the best teams in world and we're very excited to be doing just that, to be drawn against the world club champions.
"We'll go up there and we'll certainly compete and we hope the Crusaders will be playing opponents of this sort of calibre on a regular basis in the not too distant future."
Crusaders operations manager Gerald McCarthy added: "This really is progress for us.
"Playing against the world champions will put us higher up on the rugby league map. Everyone in the club is very excited about this draw."
