Heineken Cup: Semi Final Venues
A win for Munster tonight and they face the prospect of a trip to either Walkers Stadium or Stade De France.
Stade de France – the home of French rugby – could become the 81st venue to host Heineken Cup action if Stade Français Paris beat Leicester Tigers in Sunday’s Heineken Cup quarter-final at Welford Road.
The Board of ERC, the tournament organisers, have confirmed the potential venues for the semi-finals, to be played on the weekend of 21 / 22 April, en route to the 12th Heineken Cup final being staged at Twickenham Stadium, London on Sunday, 20 May.
Following the Heineken Cup 2006 / 2007 semi-final draw made in Twickenham in January, the winners of the Biarritz Olympique v Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers v Stade Français Paris quarter-finals will have “home country” advantage in this season’s semi-finals.
A Leicester Tigers semi-final against the winners of Munster and Scarlets will be played at the Walkers Stadium, in Leicester. The 32,000 capacity home of Leicester City FC hosted its first Heineken Cup semi-final in 2005 when Tigers were defeated by Toulouse.
A Stade Français Paris semi-final would see either reigning champions Munster or Llanelli Scarlets, who clash in the first quarter-final tomorrow (Friday) night, travel to the 80,000 capacity international stadium in Saint Denis, Paris.
If Biarritz Olympique qualify for the semi-finals by beating Northampton Saints at Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian on Sunday then they would return to the Spanish stadium, which hosted a semi-final last season, for their match against the winners of the London Wasps and Leinster quarter-final.
A quarter-final win by Northampton Saints over the French champions Biarritz Olympique would mean a semi-final at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, against either London Wasps or Leinster.
The 32,000 capacity home of Coventry City FC would also become a new Heineken Cup venue.
The venues, dates, kick-off times and television coverage of the semi-finals will be confirmed after the quarter-finals.
Visit ercrugby.com for information on Heineken Cup semi-final tickets.
The potential semi-finals and semi-finals venues, with each stadium’s capacity, are:
HEINEKEN CUP SEMI-FINALS – TO BE PLAYED 21 / 22 APRIL
Leicester Tigers v Llanelli Scarlets or Munster – Walkers Stadium, Leicester – 32,000
or
Stade Français Paris v Llanelli Scarlets or Munster – Stade de France, Paris – 80,000
Biarritz Olympique v London Wasps or Leinster – Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastian – 32,000
or
Northampton Saints v London Wasps or Leinster – Ricoh Arena, Coventry – 32,000