Wasps, Leicester and Bath will be in action at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday, 4 March.

England face France in the Six Nations eight days later.

Premier Rugby chief Mark McCafferty said: "We felt it was vitally important rugby fans were assured clubs will be playing to full strength on the day."

For all these clubs, Cup success is more important than international games From CF Have your say on Scrum V

Premier Rugby is the organisation representing the 12 Premiership clubs - English rugby's top flight.

In December, the RFU said it did not want England players to play on weekends when there were no Six Nations matches.

RFU set for further club showdown

The clubs' decision to play their internationals is just the latest incident in the long-running power battle between the clubs and the RFU for control of the players.

The Powergen Cup semi-finals will see London Wasps take on Leicester Tigers, while Bath will meet the lone Welsh representatives Llanelli Scarlets, with both matches live on BBC television.

The Scarlets are set to be without several star players as Wales coach Mike Ruddock plans to withdraw them from the game.

Scarlets to lose stars for semi

"We have an agreement with the regions that a week prior to a Test the Welsh-based players in our starting XV stand down for their region," said Ruddock.

Dwayne Peel, Matthew Watkins and Mark Jones are the most likely to miss out.