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Leinster last lifted the European Cup in 2012. Darren Kidd

The Champions Cup semi-final venues are out so if you're a bullish Leinster fan, get booking

It will be the south of France or the English seaside if Leinster get past Bath.

ONE OF THE worst aspects of the European Cup is the unfairness of the ‘neutral venue in the home country’ rule when it comes to the semi-final stage. The tournament rewards form in the quarter-finals by giving merit-based home ties but for some reason abandons it completely for the final four.

Unfortunately, this was seemingly the only thing the Anglo-French axis didn’t want changed when the tournament was renamed the Champions Cup and we are stuck with it again this year.

The EPCR have announced the potential venues for the semi-finals and if Leinster get past Bath, they will travel to either Marseille or Brighton.

If you were booking a holiday that decision would be a no-brainer but in this case a trip to the seaside in England would be considerably easier for Matt O’Connor’s men than travelling to the south of France as it would mean avoiding two-time European champions Toulon.

Here are the full permutations:

Champions Cup semi-finals – 18/19 April

RC Toulon v winners of Leinster Rugby v Bath Rugby

Stade Vélodrome, Marseille (capacity: 62,895)

OR
Wasps v winners Leinster Rugby v Bath Rugby

American Express Community Stadium, Brighton (capacity: 30,750)

ASM Clermont Auvergne v winners Racing Metro 92 v Saracens

Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Saint-Etienne (capacity: 39,774)

OR

Northampton Saints v winners Racing Metro 92 v Saracens

Ricoh Arena, Coventry (capacity: 32,609)

Challenge Cup semi-finals – 17/18/19 April

Gloucester Rugby or Connacht Rugby v Exeter Chiefs or Newcastle Falcons
Kingsholm Stadium or The Sportsground

London Irish or Edinburgh Rugby v Newport Gwent Dragons or Cardiff Blues
Madejski Stadium or BT Murrayfield Stadium

Much like the way the venue for the final is announced in advance, the tournament would be better served for having neutral venues for the semi-finals as well.

In 2010 and 2011, Toulouse and Leinster met at the semi-final stage with the home team winning in each year. It would have been fascinating to see how the games would have played out if neither team had the advantage of playing in front of a partisan crowd.

Saracens and Harlequins set a world record at Wembley yesterday

Toulon have a 21-year-old Fijian prodigy on the wing and he looks devastating

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9 Comments
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    Mute mcdb06
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    Mar 30th 2015, 3:54 PM

    I miss the Heineken Cup

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    Mute Jack White
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    Mar 30th 2015, 3:26 PM

    Why would Wasps play in Brighton if they won? Surely there’s another neutral stadium closer to their fanbase?

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    Mute Dave Murray
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    Mar 30th 2015, 3:47 PM

    It was actually 2012 the last time we won and not 2013.

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    Mute #COYBIB
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    Mar 30th 2015, 4:24 PM

    Considering Wasps are now a Coventry club, I’m surprised they have nominated a stadium in Brighton – a very big distance for Coventry based fans to travel and not even that convenient for London based fans to get to either, especially considering the amount of stadia in England, they had plenty to choose from much closer to home (such as Leicester city stadium which is the same size as the one in Brighton) or any number of suitable stadia in the city of London.

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    Mute James Dolan
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    Mar 30th 2015, 4:32 PM

    Sure most their fans are based west London or High Hycombe.

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    Mute James Dolan
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    Mar 30th 2015, 4:33 PM

    Wycombe

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    Mute Masterofgamz
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    Mar 30th 2015, 5:51 PM

    Don’t worry wasps won’t beat Toulon anyway no need for this fuss

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    Mute Robert Behan
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    Mar 30th 2015, 8:21 PM

    Brighton is only an hour away from London and is probably a lot easier to get to than Coventry

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    Mute James Dolan
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    Mar 30th 2015, 11:30 PM

    Exactly.

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