There was a time when any Welsh region would tremble at the prospect of having to travel to play away in Ireland.
But the Scarlets will be able to approach their Champions Cup semi-final against three-times champions Leinster with a fair degree of hope given they went to Dublin last season and beat them at the RDS in the semi-finals of the Guinness PRO12 with 14 men.
This time the stakes will be even higher, and the ‘Boys in Blue’ will have a packed Aviva Stadium behind them, but it is the same venue at which the Scarlets tore Munster to shreds in the PRO12 final last year. That will be a key reference point for them later this month as they bid to reach their first European final.
Ken Owens’ men reached the final four with their 29-17 triumph over La Rochelle in front of a record crowd of 15,373 crowd at Parc Y Scarlets. The Scartlets have previously made the semi-finals on three occasions, losing to Northampton Saints in Reading in 2000 and Leicester Tigers in Nottingham in 2002 and Leicester in 2007.
Leinster’s 30-19 win over back-to-back Champions Cup winners Saracens at the Aviva Stadium maintained their unbeaten run in Europe this season and saw them reach their ninth semi-final. The other semi-final will see a third Guinness PRO14 club, Munster, travel to Bordeaux to face Racing 92.
Champions Cup Semi-Finals – 21/22 April
Leinster Rugby v Scarlets – Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Racing 92 v Munster Rugby – Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Cardiff Blues’ 20-6 triumph over Edinburgh Rugby at Murrayfield earned them a trip to the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup. They will have home advantage against TOP14 side Pau on the weekend of 21 April.
The two teams met in the pool stages last season, when the Blues came out on top 27-12 at the Arms Park and 22-21 in France. The other semi-final is an all-English affair, with Gloucester hosting Newcastle Falcons at Kingsholm.
The finals of both tournaments will be played at the San Mames Stadium, in Bilbao. The Challenge Cup final is on Friday, 11 May, with the Champions Cup final following the day after.
The Blues won the Challenge Cup in 2010 when they beat RC Toulon in Marseille. The only other Welsh teams to reach a European final since the tournaments began in 1995 are Cardiff (Heineken Cup Final, 1996), Pontypridd (Challenge Cup Final, 2002) and Caerphilly (European Shield Final, 2003).
Challenge Cup semi-finals – 20/21/22 April
Cardiff Blues v Pau – Cardiff Arms Park
Gloucester Rugby v Newcastle Falcons – Kingsholm
