After a cracking quarter final round which saw Zurich Premiership winners Leicester Tigers knocked out of the competition by Bristol Shoguns, our attention turns to the semi finals.

The four remaining clubs - Bristol Shoguns, Gloucester, Northampton Saints and Sale Sharks - are just one game away from Twickenham and a chance for a piece of silverware.

Going into Bristol Shoguns' Zurich Championship semi-final against Northampton Saints head coach Dean Ryan commented: "We were able to put up a fantastic challenge against Leicester Tigers and come away with a win in the quarter-final. We want to play at Twickenham in the final on 8 June and the preparations have gone well for the semi-final this week. It means so much to the players, the supporters and the Club."

His opposite number at Northampton Wayne Smith said: "Every time a Saints player pulls on a Saints jersey, they go out to win. We are determined to give it our best shot in the semi-final with a hope of returning to Twickenham as a positive end to our season."

Nigel Melville, Director of Rugby at Gloucester said: "There has been no doubt all along that we want to take the Zurich Championship very seriously. We have the view that, as a squad, we still have a lot of work to do and time is running out before the end of the season. We want to end on a high and we want to end with a lot of work in the bank done for next season.

"We therefore see this Championship as an opportunity and the way we approached and delivered in the quarter-final, I think will have put that message across very strongly.

"The last time we played Sale was also in a semi-final and it went down to the wire, with us unfortunately coming off second best. I see this game as being no different. This game will go to the wire, semi-finals always do. They are one-offs and just like finals, it goes to the wire because everyone tries to the wire to win the game.

"This is one of those games where winning by one point is enough. It's not like a league game where you go chasing bonus points. This isn't about that, it's about one point and because of that, you have to take your opportunities. One opportunity missed can cause you an awful lot and I think we experienced that in the last semi-final.

"The lessons though have been learnt and going into this game, the tie couldn't have been better for us. We have lost to Sale in a semi-final already but we feel we could have won it, not should have, but could have. So we have a chance to put that behind us almost immediately and before the start of next season. Also, we are playing away in the semi-final, so if we do get through to the final then we will have done it on merit."

The broadcast times are as follows:
Semi Finals:
Saturday 1st May
Bristol Shoguns (Seed 8) v. Northampton Saints (Seed 5) - 14.00 KO
Live on Sky Sports

Sunday 2nd June
Sale Sharks (Seed 2) v. Gloucester (Seed 3) - 13.45 KO
Live on BBC TWO