The two sides have had some feisty encounters of late

English heavyweights Wasps and Leicester will meet in the semi-finals of the Powergen Cup, with Llanelli Scarlets facing Bath in the other tie.

Leicester pipped Wasps in two Heineken Cup duels last season before Wasps took revenge in the Premiership final, while the two drew 29-29 in September.

Both games will be played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 4 March.

Wasps v Leicester, live on BBC One, will kick off at 1430 GMT, with Bath v Scarlets at 1715, live on BBC Wales.

Wasps coach Ian McGeechan said: "It's great to have got to the semi-final and to have the opportunity to play at the Millennium Stadium and it will be a new experience for a lot of our players to play there.

"The draw has given us a big game against Leicester and after last season's titanic battles in the Heineken Cup, the scene is now set for the two clubs to meet again in the Powergen."

I'm pleased we've avoided Wasps Scarletts skipper Simon Easterby

England coach Andy Robinson will view the draw with some trepidation, with the matches coming in the middle of the Six Nations campaign.

Wasps and Leicester square up to each other a week before England face France in Paris, while Bath will want to call on the likes of Danny Grewcock, Steve Borthwick, Matt Stevens and Olly Barkley for their tie.

"The match is being played in the middle of the Six Nations and that means that interest will be on a high," said Bath prop David Barnes.

"The fixture will be extremely popular and I am sure that the Bath faithful will journey across the Severn Bridge en masse to support us."

Wales coach Mike Ruddock will also be nervously monitoring events with several Scarlets in action a week before Wales play Italy.

Ireland will be hoping flanker Simon Easterby, the Scarlets captain, also emerges unscathed.

"It's fantastic that we're in the semi-final representing the Welsh regions," said Easterby.

"There was never going to be an easy draw but I'm pleased we've avoided Wasps - we'll have already played them twice in the Heineken Cup and we'd probably know each other too well.

"Bath are the cup kings of England so that should make for a great game."

Bath, 10 times winners of England's domestic cup between 1984 and 1996, are aiming to go one better than last year, when they were surprisingly beaten by Leeds in the final.

Wasps won the old tournament in 1999 and 2000, while Leicester have not reached the final since 1997, the last of their five triumphs.