EPCR reveal possible Champions Cup semi-final venues as Leinster and Bordeaux-Begles get added advantage over title contenders

David Skippers 08 Apr 2025 1:53 PM

Leinster and Bordeaux players image — Leinster and Bordeaux-Begles are the two top seeded teams in the Champions Cup.

Ahead of the upcoming Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) have revealed the possible venues for the competition’s semi-finals.

The prestigious tournament is well and truly at its business end with the quarter-finals set to take place this weekend while EPCR have confirmed that the semi-finals will take place on May 2, 3 and 4.

This weekend’s quarter-final matches will get underway at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin on Friday where Leinster, who were runners-up in the last three Champions Cup finals, will host Glasgow Warriors.

The action resumes on Saturday when there are two matches scheduled to take place with Bordeaux-Bègles hosting Munster at Stade Chaban-Delmas in the day’s early game before Northampton Saints and Castres face off at Franklin’s Gardens.

The last clash of the weekend takes place on Sunday when it’s an all-French affair as Toulon do battle with the tournament’s defending champions Toulouse at the Stade Felix Mayol.

Four potential semi-final venues

EPCR have announced that there are four potential venues to host this season’s semi-finals. They are: Bordeaux’s Matmut Atlantique, Lyon’s Matmut Stadium de Gerland, Dublin’s Aviva Stadium and Milton Keynes’ Stadium MK.

Following the quarter-finals, which will take place this weekend, the semi-finals will be decided and the clubs with the highest rankings from the pool stage of the tournament will earn home country advantage for those encounters.

The four selected venues – two in France, one in Ireland and one in England – will host a Champions Cup semi-final but it all depends on which club advances with home country advantage.

With Bordeaux and Leinster being the top-seeded teams from the pool stages, they will host their semi-finals in the event that they win their respective quarter-finals.

Bordeaux would host French rivals Toulon or Toulouse at Matmut Atlantique while Leinster will host Northampton Saints or Castres at the Aviva Stadium.

If Glasgow Warriors defeat Leinster this weekend, Franco Smith’s charges will head to Milton Keynes, where Saints will host the semi-final at Stadium MK, or Matmut Atlantique if Castres beat Northampton.

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Meanwhile, Toulon will host a semi-final at Matmut Stadium de Gerland in Lyon if they get the better of Toulouse, who could possibly host a last four match if they beat Toulon and Munster see off UBB.

The Investec Champions Cup Final is scheduled for Saturday, May 24 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Last year’s semi-finals between Leinster and Northampton Saints at Dublin’s Croke Park, and Toulouse v Harlequins at Le Stadium in Toulouse saw unprecedented demand for tickets, with over 115,000 snapped up in under 24 hours.