The home of Welsh rugby will stage its first quarter final in the European Rugby Challenge Cup between the Ospreys and Stade Francais Paris on that day (17:45 kick-off).
Tickets are on sale now at the family-friendly prices of £10 for adults and £5 for U16s via ospreysrugby.com/buytickets and to personal callers at ticket office in the Liberty Stadium and WRU Shop on Westgate Street, Cardiff.
Thousands of rugby fans are expected to flock to Cardiff to cheer on the Ospreys, hoping for seven wins in a row in the competition after making history by securing a maximum 30 points in the pool stages.
In an exciting few weeks of sport following Wales’ RBS Six Nations clash with Ireland, the match will be played just days before Welsh Varsity; two weeks before the Ospreys return against Cardiff Blues for the PRO12 Judgement Day V and two months before the UEFA Champions League final 2017.
The venue has a rich and distinguished European club rugby history having staged seven European Cup finals, a semi-final, a quarter-final and two Cardiff Blues pool matches between 1996-2014. In that time it has attracted 561,748 to European club matches.
The Ospreys are no stranger to the venue having played Anglo-Welsh fixtures there as well as taking part in the annual Judgement Day derbies between the four Welsh regions in the PRO12. If will be a first for Stade Francais, however, who will become the fifth club from the TOP 14 to play at the ground.
OSPREYS V STADE FRANCAIS PARIS . . . DID YOU KNOW?
• The two squads boast international players from 11 different nations
• The sides are led by national captains Alun Wyn Jones (Wales) and Sergio Parisse (Italy)
• Parisse (124) and Jones (114) are in World Rugby’s Top 20 most capped players of all-time
• Stade Francais director of rugby Gonzalo Quesada played in the opening game of the 1999 Rugby World Cup at the then Millennium Stadium against Wales in 1999
• Forwards coach Simon Raiwalui played for Newport in their Welsh Cup Final win over Neath at the venue in 2001 and also played there for the Fiji (2002) and Pacific Islands (2006) against Wales
• The youngest player on the pitch could be Ospreys flying wing Keelan Giles who has scored seven tries in four games to date in the Challenge Cup in his debut season
• At the other end of the age spectrum is 36-year-old Pascal Pape, who played for Stade Francais in their 2011 Challenge Cup final defeat to Harlequins in Cardiff
• There could be four international outside halves battling it out – Dan Biggar and Sam Davies for Ospreys and Jules Plisson and Morne Steyn for Stade Francais
• Stade Francais have two Georgian giants to fit into their front row in international props in loose head Zurabi Zhvania (19st 9lb) and tight head Giorgi Melikidze (18st 5lb)
• Ospreys have five international front rowers of their own – Nicky Smith, Paul James, Scott Baldwin, Dmitri Arhip and new recruit Brian Mujati
• One of the most fascinating battles could come at scrum half, where Ospreys have Wales No 9 Rhys Webb and Stade Francais have Australian star Will Genia
• Genia has played six times at the venue with Australia and never been on the losing side
