Heineken Cup Semi-final Trivia

2* This will be the 11th Heineken Cup tie to be staged at Lansdowne Road. Leinster played Pontypridd and Cardiff at the home of Irish rugby in 1995. They then met Leicester there in 1996, losing 27-10. The 1999 final between Ulster and Colomiers was played at Lansdowne Road, while last season the Leinster Lions beat Biarritz in the quarter-finals and lost to Perpignan in the semi-finals. Toulouse went on to win the Heineken Cup for the second time at Lansdowne Road in the 2003 final. This season Leinster Lions played their three home Pool matches at the international venue, beating Biarritz and Cardiff Blues, but losing 23-22 to the Sale Sharks.

3* No English team has lost a Heineken Cup match at Lansdowne Road. Leicester beat Leinster in 1996 and Sale Sharks triumphed over the Leinster Lions earlier this season.

4* Toulouse hold the record for the most appearances in the Heineken Cup semi-finals with six to date, although Munster's fifth successive semi-final date will be a record for the tournament.

*5 Emile Ntamack holds the record for the most appearances in the Heineken Cup semi-finals with six to date. Five Munster players have started all four of their sides' previous semi-finals - Anthony Foley, John Hayes, Anthony Horgan, Ronan O'Gara and Peter Stringer. A further five players have played some part in all four semis - Jason Holland, Mike Mullins and Frank Sheahan (3 starts + 1 sub); Donncha O'Callaghan ((2 + 2) and Marcus Horan (1 + 3).

6* Munster have used only 25 players in their four Heineken Cup semi-finals to date. This figure includes Keith Wood, who was only with the club for their 1999/2000 campaign and Dion O'Cuinneagain, who played for 12 minutes in the 2001 defeat as an emergency back row replacement.

7* Ronan O'Gara holds the record for the most points scored in Heineken Cup semi-finals with 68 from four games. That gives him a match average of 17 points.

8* While Ronan O'Gara has helped himself to 21 and 20 points in two semi-finals, Llanelli's Stephen Jones holds the record for the most points scored in a Heineken Cup semi-final with his 23 (7 pens + 1 con) against Northampton Saints in his side's 31-28 defeat at the Madejski Stadium in 2000.

9* The most tries scored by a team in a Heineken Cup semi-final are 4 by Leicester in their 1997 home win over Toulouse.

10* There have been 41 tries scored in the previous 16 Heineken Cup semi-finals at an average of 2.5 per game. The highest try count in a semi-final is 5 on two occasions - Leicester v Toulouse at Welford Road in 1997 (4-1 in Leicester's favour) and Ulster v Stade Francais at Ravenhill in 1999 (3-2 in Stade's favour).

11* The only player to score more than one try in a Heineken Cup semi-final is the Stade Francais No 8 Christophe Juillet. He touched down twice against Ulster in 1999. No player has scored a try in two semi-finals.

12* The biggest winning margin in a Heineken Cup semi-final is 27 points (Toulouse 30, Swansea 3 in 1995). The next season Leicester beat Toulouse by 26 points.

13* In 11 of the past 12 Heineken Cup semi-finals the result has been determined by one score or less. And in four of those matches the winning margin has been 1 point or less (Brive beat Toulouse on a 2-1 try count in 1998).

14* Victory in the 16 Heineken Cup semi-finals played to date has only been achieved by five 'away' teams - Cardiff at Lansdowne Road in 1995; Brive in Toulouse in 1998; Munster in Bordeaux in 2000; Munster in Beziers 22002 and Perpignan at Lansdowne Road in 2003.

15* This will be the fifth time in the nine years of the tournament that the French Championship has provided two of more of the Heineken Cup semi-finalists.

16* France have provided 16 of the 36 Heineken Cup semi-final teams to date in the tournament (including this years teams). Biarritz will become the eighth French club to reach the last four and the French have seven wins to date.

17* Ireland have provided 8 Heineken Cup semi-finalists and three provinces have reached the last four. They have three wins between them to date (Munster 2, Ulster 1).

18* England have provided 7 Heineken Cup semi-finalists. London Wasps will become the fifth club to reach this stage and they have five wins to date (Leicester Tigers 3, Bath and Northampton Saints 1 each).

19* While Emile Ntamack will be aiming for his seventh Heineken Cup semi-final this weekend (1995, 97, 98, 00, 03) there are six Toulouse players who have figured in 4 semi-finals - France Belot, Christian Califano, Sylvain Dispagne, Didier Lacroix, Hugues Miorin and Stephane Ougier.

20* While Biarritz have reached their first Heineken Cup semi-final, three of their players have figured in the last four of the tournament before. Philippe Bernat-Salles was a try scorer for Pau in their defeat at Bath in 1998 in a side that also contained Nicholas Brusque and Jean-Michel Gonzalez. And club captain Thomas Lievremont was skipper of the Perpignan side that lost to Colomiers in 1999.