Reigning Premiership Rugby Cup champions Gloucester will travel to Newcastle in the quarter-finals of this year’s competition after qualifying as eighth seeds.
The Cherry & Whites beat Exeter Chiefs 22-14 at Sandy Park on Saturday in the final knockout round, with their first win at the Devon ground in over six years ensuring they kept their title defence alive.
The Chiefs, though, still finished four points clear at the top of Pool E and will host Sale Sharks in the second quarter-final. Exeter won the competition in 2023 and Sale in 2020.
Newcastle, meanwhile, went through with the best record of all the quarter-finalists, despite losing their first game of the competition, 19-17 away to Sale Sharks, who also qualified from Pool A as one of the best runners-up.
Ealing Trailfinders, who reached last year’s semi-finals, are the only Championship team to make it through. Ben Ward’s team will take on the competition’s inaugural winners, Northampton, in the last eight. Northampton made sure of their presence in the knockout stages as winners of Pool B with a crushing 66-33 win away to Nottingham.
Harlequins’ 32-10 win at Ealing ensured they beat their Championship rivals to first place in Pool C, while Bath finished first in Pool D despite slipping to their first defeat of the campaign, 40-21 at Bristol. The Bears fell short of qualifying as one of the best runners-up. Bath play Harlequins at home in the quarter-finals.
The 2024/25 Premiership Rugby Cup quarter-final draw:
QF 1 – Friday 28th February – Newcastle Falcons vs Gloucester Rugby (19.45 KO)
QF 2 – Saturday 1st March – Exeter Chiefs vs Sale Sharks (3pm KO)
QF 3 – Saturday 1st March – Northampton Saints vs Ealing Trailfinders (3pm KO)
QF 4 – Friday 28th February – Bath vs Harlequins (TNT Sports, 7.45pm KO)
Semi-Finals
1 Winner QF1 (Newcastle/Gloucester) vs Winner QF4 (Bath/Harlequins)
2 Winner QF2 (Exeter/Sale) vs Winner QF3 (Northampton/Ealing)
