Saracens make Allianz Park their first choice venue for Ulster Heineken Cup clash Saracens chief executive Edward Griffiths said on Monday that playing the game at their new ground in Hendon was "absolutely our first choice," but added that he was also exploring the possibility of using Twickenham or Wembley as a backup option. Saracens will play their first game at Allianz Park, which has a capacity of 10,000, when they play Cardiff in the LV Cup on Sunday but they will have to gain permission from Barnet council to add 5,000 seats if the club are to satisfy criteria for hosting a quarter-final. There are a number of hoops to go through. We are in talks with the council over the capacity to see if it's perfectly possible to increase the capacity for one match, or if it's too soon. This is our home ground now so we would like to stage the match here," Griffiths said. Sunday's test event against Cardiff will be the first game played on the artificial pitch in front of a crowd of 3,500, three weeks before the official opening against Exeter on Feb 16. A demonstration of the surface was conducted on Monday morning, with representatives of the 12 Aviva Premiership clubs and Cardiff invited to attend. Gafyn Cooper, Cardiff's rugby operations manager, said: "It is exciting. We are looking forward to it. I think all clubs have the same feeling - does it take a stud, will there be pitch burns? But I think with the technology and the scientific approach they have put in place, I am pretty happy coming away thinking there will be no difference in terms of injury rates. Saracens are joined in the quarter-finals by Harlequins, who have confirmed they will play their quarter-final against Munster at the Stoop, and Leicester. This is the first time three English sides have reached the quarter-finals for four years. However, Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty said that the success of the English clubs did not alter their desire to overhaul the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cups. "It doesn't change any of the issues, because we will have lean years and we will have better ones," McCafferty said.