Following the weekend's European results, Guinness Premiership clubs have secured a best ever seven out of eight home quarter final slots and eight quarter finalists in total.

In the Heineken Cup, the clubs gained three quarter final places for the fourth year running, but for the first time ever all have home advantage, as Saracens, London Irish and Gloucester Rugby took the top three positions after the pool stages.

In the Challenge Cup, all five English clubs qualified for the quarter finals and in doing so four secured home matches.

The three English Heineken Cup qualifiers came through as the competition's top try scorers with Saracens taking their tally to 27 and London Irish and Gloucester both achieving bonus point wins in reaching 25 and 24 tries respectively.

Individually, a host of talented young English players are making their mark on European competition so far this season.

Saracens' Richard Haughton finished as joint top try-scorer alongside established French international Aurelien Rougerie of ASM Clermont Auvergne. Haughton also recorded the fifth most metres made (390) and was third equal in the number of defenders beaten (17).

After playing a central role in the Exiles win over Benetton Treviso, London Irish scrum half Peter Richards finished the tournament on top of the 'defenders beaten' category, with 21, a total he shared with Harlequins full back Mike Brown.

With Shane Geraghty and Delon Armitage from London Irish and Ryan Lamb, Anthony Allen and James Simpson-Daniel from Gloucester Rugby all named in the England Saxons squad and pushing to break into the senior squad, the competition for England's backs' places looks set to hot up in the second half of the season.

Up front, the Exiles' Nick Kennedy, another named in the England Saxons squad, again showed his prowess in the line out, finishing second in terms of lineouts won.

The quarter final line-up is as follows, with the semi final draw taking place tomorrow (Tuesday 22nd January) at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, venue for the 2008 Final.

Saracens v Ospreys
London Irish v Perpignan
Gloucester Rugby v Munster
Toulouse v Cardiff Blues

In summary, Premier Rugby Chief Executive Mark McCafferty said, "We have enjoyed six rounds of fantastic rugby in Europe and at the conclusion of the pool stage we have eight Guinness Premiership clubs in the quarter finals of European competition, a feat only achieved once before.

"It's a ringing endorsement of the Guinness Premiership as the world's most competitive league that despite losing last years finalists, Saracens, London Irish and Gloucester Rugby have qualified as the top three seeds, the first time English clubs have ever achieved this feat.

"We have also seen young English players take their domestic form into Europe, with stand out performances from players like Jordan Crane, Tom Croft, Shane Geraghty, James Haskell, Richard Haughton, Nick Kennedy and Ryan Lamb. With our clubs able to compete successfully in Europe with a raft of young English talent to the fore, the future looks very bright for club rugby in England."