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The four Heineken Cup semi-finals were complete sell-outs. There were 162,000 tickets sold in 12 weeks. The sale of more than 70,000 tickets for the semi-finals has been achieved in just three weeks.
With almost 40,000 tickets for the 10th Heineken Cup final at Murrayfield already sold (ERC has held back 15,000 tickets for the two cup finalists) the tournament is on course to break all records with up to 900,000 fans attending the Pool games and knock-out matches.
The Toulouse director of rugby Guy Noves is the only coach still attached to the same team from the first season of Heineken Cup rugby. The Heineken Cup semi-final at the Walkers Stadium will be his 71st game at the helm for the French side - putting him 10 games ahead of his Llanelli Scarlets counterpart Gareth Jenkins.
The Leicester Tigers coach John Wells was in the side that beat Toulouse 37-11 in the 1997 Heineken Cup semi-final at Welford Road.
Both Leicester and Toulouse are battling to become the first team to reach four Heineken Cup finals. They are also seeking to become the first club to win the Heineken Cup three times.
Biarritz Olympique are the only one of the four semi-finalists who have never been to the final of the Heineken Cup. They are seeking to become the sixth French club to reach the final, following in the footsteps of Toulouse, Brive, Colomiers, Stade Francais Paris and Perpignan.
