The match will be televised live on BBC 1 at 2.45pm on Saturday December 18 – a re-match of last weekend’s Zurich Premiership match at Welford Road, won 28-13 by Tigers.

BBC Sport senior producer Ken Burton said: "It’s a huge game and it leapt out at us that this is the one we should televise."

Holders Newcastle are away at Saracens’ Vicarage Road, where last season’s man of the final for Falcons Hugh Vyvyan, has now taken up residence.

Falcons director of rugby, Rob Andrew, said: "We know that Saracens will provide tough opposition, but having won the Cup twice in the last four seasons, we hope to continue our excellent record in the competition.

"Winning the Powergen Cup was a huge boost for the club, not only because it secured European rugby, but because it’s a great trophy to win in its own right.

"It was a massive day out for the fans, who went down to London in huge numbers, and it’s raised the profile of the club.

"The response we’ve had up here as a result of winning it has been amazing, and it’s contributed to a much greater interest in the game in the North East.

"When we’ve been taking the trophy round to local schools and clubs and displaying it in the city centre, the public reaction has been fantastic, and that’s a major reason why we’re so keen to get back to Twickenham and defend it."

The team they beat in the semi-final, National Division One Birmingham Solihull, will travel to Leeds Tykes if they get past Midlands rivals Coventry in the fifth round at the end of this month.

Director of rugby Phil Maynard said: "Beating Wasps last year was great and it put West Midlands and Birmingham ruby on a national footing. People wondered who we are when we started off in the Cup but by the time we reached the semi-finals they knew.

"If we do beat Coventry – and it’s a big ‘if’ – then going to Leeds will be great. Headingley is a ground I have been to many times before and Phil Davies and I go back a long way."

NEC Harlequins, bottom of the Zurich Premiership without a win, have been drawn away at Bath and their hooker Ace Tiatia admitted: "It’s going to be a tough one for us. But over the last four or five weeks the team has been performing better and a good run in the Cup could be what we need."

London Irish head to Worcester Warriors, whom they beat 25-15 last Sunday, and captain Kieron Dawson said: "They are a very physical side and it will be a tough, especially at Sixways with the crowd behind them. They have some senior players who have been involved in big Cup campaigns.

"Europe is the ultimate goal, not just for the team but marketing and income wise, and winning the Cup is an avenue for that."