Cardiff to host Reds’ possible semi with Ospreys

CARDIFF’S Millennium Stadium will play host to Munster in a Heineken Cup semi-final if Declan Kidney’s side defeat Gloucester and Ospreys overcome Saracens at the weekend.

ERC chiefs met yesterday to decide the venues on the weekend of April 26/27 and the winners of the games between London Irish and Perpignan and Saracens and Ospreys will have ‘home country’ advantage in the last four.

Munster fans would relish a meeting with Ospreys as the Welsh venue can accommodate 74,600 while a date with Saracens would mean a trip to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and another ticket scramble to be among the 32,000 capacity crowd.

Tickets for the Heineken Cup semi-finals will go on sale on Sunday and supporters are advised to log onto ercrugby.com for details.

Meanwhile, Saracens have become the third team to announce that their Heineken Cup quarter-final this weekend is a sell-out — the first time the English club have reported a capacity crowd for any match. The last of the 18,214 tickets for their Vicarage Road showdown with the Ospreys on Sunday was snapped up yesterday for them to join Toulouse and Gloucester in selling out well ahead of matchday.

The tie between Toulouse and Cardiff Blues at Le Stadium will have a capacity 35,009 crowd and all 16,500 Kingsholm tickets have long since gone for Gloucester Rugby’s home clash with Munster. London Irish, who play Perpignan at the Madejski Stadium in the first of the quarter-finals on Saturday afternoon, have sold 14,000 tickets and anticipate a considerable walk-up on the day.

* The semi-final options are as follows: London Irish v Toulouse or Cardiff Blues — Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham (Capacity: 80,000). Perpignan v Toulouse or Cardiff Blues — Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier (Capacity: 32,000) Saracens v Munster or Gloucester Rugby — Ricoh Arena, Coventry (Capacity: 32,000) Ospreys v Munster or Gloucester Rugby — Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (Capacity: 74,600)