Four Still Fight for Euro Crown

After a sell out weekend of thrilling Heineken Cup quarter-final action, the line-up for the semi-finals is now known as the countdown to the 10th anniversary final in Edinburgh on Sunday, May 22, ticks below 50 days.
Into the last four are two teams who have twice lifted the Heineken Cup, Leicester Tigers and Toulouse, while the 2001 runners-up Stade Francais Paris have also reached the semi-finals for the third time in six attempts.
Biarritz Olympique made it a hat-trick of French success when they beat Munster 19-10 in San Sebastien in the fourth and final quarter-final - the second season in a row that they have reached this stage.

So the line-up for the 2005 Heineken Cup semi-finals will be:

Leicester Tigers v Toulouse
(in England)
Stade Francais Paris v Biarritz Olympique
(in France).

The games will be played on the weekend of April 23/24. Venues, kick-off-times, broadcasting details, match officials and ticket information will be published as soon as possible this week.

The game between Leicester Tigers, who became the first English club to win an away quarter-final when they beat Leinster 29-13 in front of a quarter-final record crowd of 48,500 at Lansdowne Road on Saturday, and Toulouse, who beat Northampton Saints 37-9 on Friday night, will be a re-match of their semi-final clash of 1997.
On the occasion Leicester triumphed 37-11 on their own Welford Road ground to stop the French giants retaining their Heineken Cup title. Leicester were beaten in the final by Brive but went on to win the trophy in 2001 and 2002.
Toulouse have also won the Heineken Cup twice and, like Leicester, will be aiming to reach a fourth final. They were champions in 1996 and 2003, but were beaten 27-20 by London Wasps at Twickenham last year.
The game between French champions Stade Francais Paris and Biarritz Olympique will be the fourth time that two French sides have contested a Heineken Cup semi-final. Brive pipped Toulouse on try count in 1998, Colomiers beat Perpignan in 1999 and Toulouse defeated Biarritz 19-11 in Bordeaux last season.