Will Falcons stay in the top flight?

The Premiership spotlight may be on semifinals - involving Harlequins versus Northampton Saints and Leicester Tigers against Saracens - but there is another equally significant battle going on.

Newcastle Falcons, who finished bottom of the table at the conclusion of the regular season, will be keenly observing the second round of semifinals in the RFU Championship - effectively the second division of English club rugby.

The Falcons, by virtue of their last place on the Premiership standings, are due to be relegated.

However, they have been given a glimmer of hope of staying up by Cornish Pirates, who upset RFU Championship favourites Bristol 45-24 in the first leg of their semifinal clashes.

Bristol, along with London Welsh, are the only two clubs in the second-tier Championship that meet Premiership entry criteria - which states that teams must have a stadium that seats 10,000 spectators.

Bristol needs to beat the Pirates by 22 points or more if they are to reach the Final when the teams clash again this Sunday.

London Welsh holds a slight 13-3 lead over Bedford following their first semifinal clash.