A first European Rugby Challenge Cup final will be at stake for both Leicester Tigers and Ulster Rugby when they clash in the semi-finals of the competition on Friday. Though both sides have lifted the European Cup, neither have reached the final of the Challenge Cup and will be keen to add a new piece of silverware to their respective collections. Leicester come into the game off the back of a commanding 39-15 quarter-final win over Newcastle Falcons, while Ulster overcame Northampton Saints 35-27 to reach the last four. The semi-final will be a first Challenge Cup meeting between the two clubs, but their most recent encounter - a Heineken Champions Cup pool stage fixture in 2019 - saw Ulster fight back from 13 points down to win 14-13. The action at Mattioli Woods Welford Road gets under way at 20:00 British and Irish time and is available to watch live on BT Sport in the United Kingdom, and beINSPORTS and Sky Italia elsewhere in Europe. Pool positions Leicester Tigers: 4th in European Rugby Challenge Cup Prelim Stage; 9 points Ulster Rugby: 9th in Heineken Champions Cup Pool B; 3 points Quarter-finals Leicester Tigers 39-15 Newcastle Falcons Northampton Saints 27-35 Ulster Rugby European Rugby Challenge Cup head-to-head record The sides have never met in the European Rugby Challenge Cup Leading 2020/21 points-scorers Leicester Rugby: Zack Henry (22) Ulster Rugby: John Cooney (26) https://twitter.com/ERChallengeCup/status/1386726895195152385 Key quotes Steve Borthwick (Leicester Tigers): “When you have a group of players who give their all and are as committed as they are, and they win and think they can be better, it’s not a bad place; it’s pretty positive. It’s a great group of players there who want to do the work.” Dan McFarland (Ulster Rugby): “It’s interesting that we’ve had three English opponents and they’ve all been away from home. The travelling makes it more different from the physical side of things, but it focuses the mind a bit more on the task in hand. It adds a challenge to it which is quite exciting and if you are going to do it the hard way, you can utilise that.” Match facts

This will be the first Challenge Cup clash between Leicester and Ulster. However, the sides have met 10 times before in the Heineken Champions Cup (Ulster W7, Leicester W3).
The last time Leicester hosted Ulster in European competition, they lost 13-14, having led 13-0 before a second-half fightback from the PRO14 side. Tigers had won three of four previous home games against Ulster prior to that loss.
Leicester have won all six of their home games in the Challenge Cup, scoring 5.5 tries per game across those matches and achieving an average winning margin of 24 points.
Ulster have won both their two previous semi-final matches in Europe, on the way to winning the Heineken Champions Cup in 1998/99 and also in 2011/12, when they went on to lose to Leinster in the final of the same competition.
Leicester are looking to reach a European final for the first time since 2008/09, when they beat Cardiff Blues in a dramatic penalty shootout in the semi-final of the Heineken Champions Cup, before losing to Leinster at BT Murrayfield in the final.
Leicester are yet to lose a scrum on their own feed in the Challenge Cup this season, winning 36/36 so far. No other side have had more than 11 scrums without losing at least one.
Leicester Tigers are the top points (154) and try (19) scorers in the Challenge Cup this season. They have also made more tackles (573) than any other side.
Leicester’s Jasper Wiese has made the second most carries (36) of any player in the Challenge Cup this season, also beating five more defenders (18) than anyone else in the competition.
Despite playing just two games each, only one player (Ollie Hassell-Collins, 8) has made more breaks in the Challenge Cup this season than Ulster duo Robert Baloucoune (6) and Jacob Stockdale (5).
Leicester’s Kini Murimurivalu ranks joint second for metres gained (214) in the Challenge Cup this season. His average gain-per-carry (10.7m) is the best of any of the 38 players to make 20+ carries.