Dates And Times Confirmed For Heineken Cup Quarters
ERC, the tournament organisers, has announced the dates, kick-off times and broadcasters for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals matches which will take place over the weekend of April 9-11.
Reigning champions Leinster will kick-off the Heineken Cup quarter-finals when they entertain Clermont Auvergne on Friday, April 9.
Fellow Irish province Munster, who won the title in 2006 and 2008, will be third up on Saturday afternoon when they host the 2000 champions Northampton Saints in a re-match of their recent pool match in Limerick.
The first of the two quarter-finals on French soil will launch the Saturday sequence of matches when Biarritz Olympique entertain the Ospreys.
Pool 2 winners Biarritz will be taking their fixture across the border into Spain, to play at the 32,000-capacity Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian. It will be the fourth knock-out match Biarritz have played at the venue and their sixth game overall.
As well as beating Munster and Sale Sharks in the last-eight in Spain, they also defeated Bath there in the semi-finals in 2006.
Their only Heineken Cup defeat in San Sebastian came in 2007 when Northampton Saints pipped them 7-6 in the quarter-finals.
Three-time champions Toulouse, who meet Stade Francais in an all-French affair on Sunday, April 11, have also agreed to switch their game to a bigger stadium. They have already beaten Sale Sharks and Cardiff Blues at Toulouse’s 37,000-capacity Stade Municipal this season.
2009/10 HEINEKEN CUP QUARTER-FINALS:
All kick-off times local time –
FRIDAY, APRIL 9
LEINSTER v Clermont Auvergne, 8pm (Sky Sports/Canal+Sport)
SATURDAY, APRIL 10
Biarritz Olympique v Ospreys, 4pm (France 2/Sky Sports)
MUNSTER v Northampton Saints, 5.30pm (Sky Sports/Sport +)
SUNDAY, APRIL 11
Toulouse v Stade Francais, 5.30pm (France 2/Sky Sports)