2007 Heineken Cup Semi Finals

Saturday, April 21, 2007 

This weekend sees the potentially ill-fated Heineken Cup semi finals take place. Llanelli Scarlets are to play Leicester, and in a repeat of last week's Guinness premiership clash, Northampton Saints face London Wasps.

The Scarlets are the last non-English side playing in the Heineken Cup, which is guaranteed to have at least one English team in the title. The Scarlets are the only unbeaten side remaining in the competition.

Leicester arrive in the semi finals having knocked out the French side, Stade Francais. They are currently have 66 points in the premiership, which places them in second place after Gloucester (also on 66 points). Given that they've won the Anglo-Welsh trophy already, they have the potential to win the treble.

In the Quarter Finals, Northampton played the French team, Biarritz. The game was played in the San Sebastien in northern Spain. After a low scoring game, Northampton defied predictions to win 7-6.

Northampton are facing relegation in the premiership, and although they will take the game seriously, it's possible that their minds may be elsewhere. It will be vital for them to win their next premiership game. Should they fail to do so they will certainly be relegated.

Following Wasps victory over Leinster at Adams Park, Wasps fully expected to face Biarritz, but it was not to be. In an interesting twist, their Heineken Cup game against Northampton would immediately follow their Guinness Premiership match against that team. Wasps won that game, despite having to rest players such as Alex King and Lawrence Dallaglio.

Wasps have a good chance this weekend, and can boast three international captains in their ranks. Dallaglio, Vickery (both England) and Ibanez (captain of the French side which won the 6 nations).

Both games take place at a neutral venue which has been selected by one of the sides previously selected by lot. The Leicester vs. Llanelli game will take place at the Walkers stadium in Leicester on Saturday. It will kick off at 3pm BST (2pm UTC).

The Wasps vs. Northampton game will take place in Coventry at the Ricoh arena. It will kick off at 3:05pm BST on Sunday.

The final will take place at Twickenham on the 20th May at 2:30pm (BST)

In the Llanelli Scarlets vs Leicester game, Leicester won 33 points to 17. It was 16-10 at half time. Tries for leicester were scored by Goode, Jennings and Deacon. There were three conversions from Goode who also scored four penalties. For Scarlets, M Jones and Rees scored tries, S Jones converted twice and also scored a penalty.

The Northampton Saints face London Wasps later today.

• "Fixtures and Results" — ERC, April20, 2007
• "Player strike to resolve Heineken Cup dispute?" — BBC News Online, April 17, 2007
• "Leicester vs Scarlets information" — BBC News Online, April 20, 2007
• "Saints vs Wasps information" — BBC News Online, April 20, 2007
• "Anglo Welsh Final information" — BBC News Online, April 15, 2007
• "Biarritz vs Northampton in the Quarter Final" — BBC News Online, April 1, 2007
• "Leinster vs Wasps in the Quarter Final" — BBC News Online, March 31, 2007
• Fiona Hackett. "Wasps announce their lineup" — London Wasps, April 20, 2007
• Chris Wearmouth. "Saints announce their lineup" — Northampton Saints, April 20, 2007
• Gary Sherrard. "Tigers announce their lineup" — Leicester Tigers, April 20, 2007
• Llanelli Scarlets. "Llanelli announce their lineup" — Llanelli Scarlets, April 20, 2007
  

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