Saracens' Euro quarter-final at Twickenham

View of a game at Twickenham Stadium in England on November 26, 2011. Saracens announced Wednesday they would stage their ‘home’ European Cup quarter-final against Ulster on April 6 at Twickenham rather than at their new ground.

LONDON - Saracens announced Wednesday they would stage their ‘home’ European Cup quarter-final against Ulster on April 6 at Twickenham rather than at their new ground.

The north London club had indicated they wanted to play the tie with the Irish province at Allianz Park, the Premiership side’s new purpose built home which features a plastic pitch.

But Saracens would have had to have received local authority permission to increase Allianz Park’s 10,000 capacity to the European Cup quarter-final minimum of 15,000 — and they have now opted for Twickenham, which can hold more than 80,000 fans.

“We look forward to playing this important match at the home of English rugby, a ground that many of our players know extremely well,” Saracens chairman Nigel Wray said Wednesday.

“It is absolutely clear that people want to see big teams playing big matches at big stadiums, and that is precisely what we will deliver at Twickenham.

“We did consider the option of playing this showpiece match at Allianz Park, our brand new home stadium in NW4, but, in consultation with local residents and our partners at the London Borough of Barnet, we have decided to settle at the new venue before applying to stage a one-off event with a larger capacity.”

Premiership champions Harlequins will host Munster at their Twickenham Stoop home, just a short walk from Twickenham, on Sunday, with the quarter-final line-up completed by Leicester visiting Toulon and Clermont taking on French rivals Montpellier.