With the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup knockout stages set to dominate the rugby landscape this weekend, the clubs who qualify for the last four of European club rugby\u2019s elite tournament will play the semi-final matches at Dublin\u2019s Aviva Stadium, and at either Twickenham Stadium or Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux.<\/p>\n
Following the draw for the Heineken Cup semi-final pairings at the conclusion of the Pool stages, ERC has today (Thursday, 5 April) confirmed the venues and dates for the high-profile games in the last four of the competition.<\/p>\n
The winners of Sunday\u2019s intriguing all-Irish clash between top seeds, Munster Rugby, and Ulster Rugby will play their semi-final at the 50,000-capacity Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 28 April against the winners of the competition\u2019s opening quarter-final between Edinburgh Rugby and four-time champions, Toulouse.<\/p>\n
If English champions, Saracens, come through Sunday\u2019s much anticipated contest with ASM Clermont Auvergne, they will meet the winners of the Leinster Rugby v Cardiff Blues game in the semi-final at Twickenham Stadium on Sunday, 29 April. However, if Clermont defeat Saracens, they will take on either Leinster or Cardiff Blues at Stade Chaban-Delmas.<\/p>\n
The Aviva Stadium hosted last season\u2019s Heineken Cup semi-final between Leinster and Toulouse, while two tournament semi-finals have been played at Stade Chaban-Delmas – Toulouse v Munster in 2000 and Toulouse v Biarritz Olympique in 2004. Twickenham Stadium, which will stage this season\u2019s Heineken Cup final on 19 May, has hosted one semi-final to date when London Irish met Toulouse in 2008.<\/p>\n
Following the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-final draw at the conclusion of the Pool stage, the much anticipated clashes this weekend of Toulon and Harlequins, and of London Wasps and Biarritz, will have the added incentive of offering the winners a home semi-final and taking them one step closer to the tournament final at the Twickenham Stoop on Friday, 18 May, the eve of the Heineken Cup showpiece occasion.<\/p>\n
Toulon or Harlequins will play the winners of the Stade Francais Paris-Exeter Chiefs game on Friday, 27 April, and if Biarritz Olympique defeat London Wasps, they will meet the winners of Brive v Scarlets on Saturday, 28 April. However, if London Wasps are victorious, they will play either Brive or Scarlets on Sunday, 29 April.<\/p>\n
HEINEKEN CUP SEMI-FINALS<\/p>\n
Saturday, 28 April
\nMunster Rugby or Ulster Rugby v Edinburgh Rugby or Toulouse \u2013 Aviva Stadium, Dublin (capacity: 50,000) <\/p>\n
Sunday, 29 April
\nSaracens or ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leinster Rugby or Cardiff Blues \u2013 Twickenham Stadium (capacity: 82,000) or Stade Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux (capacity: 34,000)<\/p>\n
Heineken Cup final\u2013 Twickenham Stadium, Saturday 19 May (5.00pm)<\/p>\n
AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP SEMI-FINALS<\/p>\n
Friday, 27 April
\nToulon or Harlequins v Stade Francais Paris or Exeter Chiefs<\/p>\n
Saturday, 28 April \/ Sunday, 29 April
\nLondon Wasps or Biarritz Olympique v Brive or Scarlets<\/p>\n
Amlin Challenge Cup final \u2013 Twickenham Stoop, Friday 18 May (8.00pm)<\/p>\n
The kick-off times for the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup semi-finals will be announced following this weekend\u2019s matches
\nTickets for the games will go on sale through the participating clubs this weekend with additional tickets expected to be available for public sale. For details, see ercrugby.com <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
With the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup knockout stages set to dominate the rugby landscape this weekend, the clubs who qualify for the last four of European club rugby\u2019s elite tournament will play the semi-final matches at Dublin\u2019s Aviva Stadium, and at either Twickenham Stadium or Stade Chaban-Delmas in Bordeaux. Following the draw for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5587,5070,7711,7932,8092],"class_list":["post-25133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ulster-rugby","tag-confirmed","tag-dates","tag-european","tag-semi-finals","tag-venues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25133"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25133\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25134,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25133\/revisions\/25134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intouchrugby.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}