Castres v Munster

Kick-off 2pm today

Venue Stade de la Mediterranée, Béziers

TV ITV Sport Plus, 1.45pm

Castres may be the Harlequins of the French game - seven defeats in eight championship games this year saw them flirt with relegation -but they also show the English club's ability to turn it on in the cup. In the opening round of the Heineken Cup they came within a whisker of beating Munster at their Limerick fortress and they will surely go one better today. They have a host of internationals, including Gregor Townsend at stand-off and the powerful New Zealander Norm Berryman in the centre and Munster's lack of competitive action may count against them, their players meeting up only last Monday for the first time in three months.

Leicester v Llanelli

Kick-off 3pm tomorrow

Venue City Ground, Nottingham

TV BBC2, 2.40pm

Llanelli may have selection worries - the backs Neil Boobyer, Leigh Davies, Salesi Finau and Wayne Proctor are all carrying injuries - but the Scarlets are otherwise in a healthy state of mind. A quarter-final win at Bath may not carry quite the weight it once did but two European games against Leicester this season when they have not conceded a try show their pedigree. It will be the forward battle that decides the outcome of a semi-final that will attract a capacity 29,500 crowd to the City Ground. Leicester may not have been at their best recently but they look too strong up front to be prevented from defending their cup in next month's final in Cardiff.

L Irish v Pontypridd

Kick-off 5.30pm today

Venue Kassam Stadium, Oxford

If London Irish were complacent after their pyrotechnics at Twickenham, they should remember that this unfashionable Pontypridd side won at Saracens to reach their exalted place in the last four of the Shield. The Exiles make three changes from the side that overpowered Northampton in the Powergen Cup. Neal Hatley is at loose-head in place of the injured Mike Worsley and Richard Kirke and Simon Halford take the other front-row berths from Naka Drotske and Rob Hardwick. Gareth Baber, their scrum-half, is fit for the most important game in Pontypridd's history.

Gloucester v Sale

Kick-off 2pm tomorrow

Venue Franklin's Gardens

Gloucester's form lurches from the sublime to the rid iculous. They are leaking more points than a broken sieve at the moment, last week's 41-40 win at Bristol giving their supporters more nail-biting moments after two thumping defeats at Wasps and Northampton. Henry Paul is once more on the bench thanks to the priceless form of the fly-half Ludovic Mercier while Robert Todd returns after his one-match suspension. Last month Gloucester trounced Sale in the Premiership but the Cheshire side have shown good form of late and Jason Robinson, Charlie Hodgson and Mark Cueto, the best young wing in the Premiership, are all potent match-winners. It will be close and may come down to the kicking of Hodgson and Mercier.

Northampton v Saracens

Kick-off 3pm today

Venue Franklin's Gardens

Wayne Smith has shown little respect for reputations since he moved in to transform the ailing East Midlands club last winter. Matt Dawson and Steve Thompson, both internationals, are the latest to be dropped by the New Zealander after Northampton's power failure in the Powergen Cup. Smith has injury problems with his pack with prop Mattie Stewart, lock Johan Ackerman and the flanker Andrew Blowers all out injured. Saracens await their own Kiwi saviour in Wayne Shelford but for now their gloomy season has been brightened by the return of Thomas Castaignède who is on the bench.

Newcastle v Bath

Kick-off 2.30pm tomorrow

Venue Kingston Park

Bath are fighting for their lives and the team two places off the bottom of the Premiership will not relish a trip to Kingston Park where the best sides struggle. Newcastle ran Leicester close at Welford Road earlier this month and have Inga Tuigamala back to wreak havoc while Rob Devonshire replaces Richard Arnold in the back row, the New Zealander paying the price for being sent to the sin-bin at Leicester. Bath are unchanged from the side that beat Leeds for a fortnight ago. They have strengthened their squad with the signing of the Welsh hooker Jonathan Humphreys but at the moment they look incapable of any real convincing form without Mike Catt as playmaker.

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