1
EPCR statement: Champions Cup semi-final venue plans confirmed
By Kim Ekin
EPCR have confirmed that five venues have been lined up to potentially stage the upcoming Heineken Champions Cup semi-final next month, depending on which teams progress from the four quarter-finals. La Rochelle, Munster, Leicester and Racing will all respectively host Montpellier, Toulouse, Leinster and Sale in the quarter-finals and the tournament organisers have outlined the likely semi-final venues.
An EPCR statement read: "In advance of the remaining fixtures in the knockout stage of the 2021/22 Heineken Champions Cup, it has been agreed that for this season only, the semi-finals will be played at the chosen venues of the highest-ranked clubs.
"A total of five venues in France, England and Ireland are in line to stage a semi-final match on the weekend of May 14/15 depending on the results of the quarter-finals.
"Regarding semi-final 1, if Racing 92 qualify, they will play either La Rochelle or Montpellier at the 38,000-capacity Stade Bollaert-Delelis in Lens as Paris La Défense will be unavailable on the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final weekend.
"If La Rochelle come through to meet Sale, that match will be played at Stade Marcel-Deflandre, and if a semi-final happens to pit Sale against Montpellier, that match will go ahead at the AJ Bell Stadium.
"For semi-final 2, if Leicester win through from the quarter-finals, they will play either Munster or Toulouse at Mattioli Woods Welford Road, and if Leinster earn a last-four place against Toulouse, that match will be scheduled for the 51,000-capacity Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Similarly, if Munster qualify to meet Leinster in a semi-final, then that match will also be staged at the Aviva Stadium as Thomond Park will be unavailable on the weekend of May 14/15."
HEINEKEN CHAMPIONS CUP semi-finals - May 14/15
(Pool stage rankings in brackets)
Semi-final 1: if Racing 92 (A1) v Stade Rochelais (A3) – Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens
Semi-final 1: if Racing 92 (A1) v Montpellier Hérault Rugby (A7) – Stade Bollaert-Delelis, Lens
Semi-final 1: if Stade Rochelais (A3) v Sale Sharks (A5) - Stade Marcel-Deflandre
Semi-final 1: if Sale Sharks (A5) v Montpellier Hérault Rugby (A7) – AJ Bell Stadium
Semi-final 2: if Leicester Tigers (B1) v Munster Rugby (B3) – Mattioli Woods Welford Road
Semi-final 2: if Leicester Tigers (B1) v Stade Toulousain (B7) – Mattioli Woods Welford Road
Semi-final 2: if Munster Rugby (B3) v Leinster Rugby (A4) – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Semi-final 2: if Leinster Rugby (A4) v Stade Toulousain (B7) – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
2022 Heineken Champions Cup final: Saturday, May 28; Stade Vélodrome, Marseille (17.45)
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Sam Simmonds' Montpellier replacement a blow for Wallabies – report
3
Camille Chat breaks silence on his immediate effect Racing 92 exit
4
Six players Rassie Erasmus must hand Springbok debuts to in 2025
5
Latest Comments
If Pollock is in the squad, who gets left out?
"I think the Eddie Jones style development player approach is whats called for"
(i) Why?
(ii) The churn of players under Eddie Jones was generally considered to be quite a bad thing. Do you want Guy Pepper, Ted Hill, Ben Curry, etc. to give up and go to France like Marchant did?
(iii) England already have a really young squad, and especially a young back row. If they do badly in the six nations Borthwick will probably lose his job, so shouldn't they prioritise winning in the short term and developing the players already in the squad, rather than bringing in newer, younger, guys?
(iv) England have a development tour in June. If you really want Pollock to be in the squad prior to graduating the u20s, why not wait until the summer?
Go to commentsWhen England's defence was able to get into shape it could be dominant though (especially in the game against NZ). Is the number of tackles really the main issue?
I get that making loads of tackles is tiring, but so is building multi-phase attacks. I'm just worried England would get tired out from attacking, then struggle to get set when they're subjected to counter attacks.
Go to comments