Round four of the United Rugby Championship sees the return of many of Ireland's Rugby World Cup squad to action.
It's just under a month since that heart-breaking quarter-final loss to New Zealand and they will be eager to move on to the next phase.
The big game of the weekend is this evening's Interpro clash of Ulster and Munster in Belfast, while table-toppers Connacht will aim to replicate their home form on the road as they take the short trip to Edinburgh, the first of three away games for Pete Wilkins' men.
Leinster are the last Irish province in action as they visit Newport to face the Dragons on Sunday.
ONLINE
We'll have live scoring, blogs, reports and reaction across the weekend.
TV
RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player will be showing Ulster v Munster on Friday evening (7.35pm) as well as Leinster's trip to Dragons on Sunday afternoon (1.15pm).
Edinburgh v Connacht (Saturday 7.35pm) will be live on TG4. All games are shown live on urc.tv.
RADIO
Full live commentary of Ulster v Munster on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra.
WEATHER
Belfast is forecast to see clear skies with light winds in about 6C for tonight's game, while Edinburgh will be slightly misty with temperatures around 1C.
On Sunday in Wales they expect light rain showers with a gentle breeze, with afternoon temperatures up around 9C.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Ulster host Munster as they take on a provincial rival for the second week in a row, this time in their home ground.
Dan McFarland's injury-hit side almost pulled off what would have been a famous victory on the road before being hauled in at the death by Connacht in Galway, going down 22-20.
Prior to that they had wins over Zebre and Bulls to their name.
Munster, unbeaten after a draw with Benetton and victories over Sharks and Dragons, have resisted the temptation to load up with returning Ireland internationals and include only Jeremy Loughman in their squad, with the loosehead starting.
Peter O'Mahony, Conor Murray, Tadhg Beirne and Dave Kilcoyne will kick their heels for another week at least.
But the hosts do welcome back some of the frontliners with Stuart McCloskey in the 12 shirt and Iain Henderson and Rob Herring on the bench.
In total they make 11 changes to the side that lost out in the Sportsground.
Rob Herring is in line to break the all-time Ulster appearance record with 230, if he comes on from bench
Graham Rowntree's champions sit just one point behind leaders Connacht in the standings, while victory for Ulster could push them top, temporarily at least.
The teams each won their away meetings last season, and Munster have not been defeated away from home in the competition since their loss to Leinster at Aviva Stadium in October 2022.
Ulster, meanwhile, have lost just once at Kingspan Stadium in any competition since New Year's Day: 10-15 to Connacht in last season's quarter-final.
Ulster: Ethan McIlroy, Rob Baloucoune, Stewart Moore, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, Nathan Doak; Eric O'Sullivan, Tom Stewart (capt), Greg McGrath; Cormac Izuchukwu, Kieran Treadwell; Marcus Rea, David McCann, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: Callum Reid, Rob Herring, Scott Wilson, Iain Henderson, Dave Ewers, John Cooney, Jake Flannery, Ben Moxham, Jude Postlethwaite.
Munster: Shane Daly; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Seán O'Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron (capt), John Ryan; Edwin Edogbo, Fineen Wycherley; Alex Kendellen, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Josh Wycherley, Stephen Archer, Tom Ahern, Brian Gleeson, Paddy Patterson, Rory Scannell, Ben O'Connor.
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU, 76th game)
League leaders Connacht have got off to a perfect start, winning three from three at home, against Ospreys, Glasgow and Ulster.
Head coach Wilkins has admitted that improving their away record is a major aim after picking up just three wins from nine on the road in the regular season last year.
They have, in fact, won three of their last five away games, including the quarter-final win in Belfast against Ulster last May.
Edinburgh, beaten for the first time this season against Leinster last weekend, have lost just two of their last seven fixtures against Connacht.
That runs includes a 56-8 win in Connacht's only previous visit to Hive Stadium in March 2022.
In team news, the visitors hand starting debuts to Tadgh McElroy and Seán O'Brien, while Ireland internationals Finlay Bealham, Bundee Aki and Mack Hansen have another week off at least.
In total there are eight changes to the side that beat Ulster.
Edinburgh prop Pierre Schoeman will make his 100th appearance for the club, while new signing Ali Price, who made the loan switch from Glasgow during the week, is not in the squad.
Former Munster out-half Ben Healy starts once again.
Edinburgh: Blair Kinghorn; Wes Goosen, Mark Bennett, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe; Ben Healy, Charlie Shiel; Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, Javan Sebastian; Glen Young, Grant Gilchrist (capt); Tom Dodd, Connor Boyle, Viliame Mata.
Replacements: Dave Cherry, Boan Venter, Angus Williams, Marshall Sykes, Ben Muncaster, Ben Vellacott, Chris Dean, Ross McCann.
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; John Porch, Byron Ralston, Tom Daly, Andrew Smith; Jack Carty (capt), Caolin Blade; Peter Dooley, Tadgh McElroy, Jack Aungier; Niall Murray, Darragh Murray; Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Seán O'Brien.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jordan Duggan, Sam Illo, Joe Joyce, Jarrad Butler, Colm Reilly, David Hawkshaw, JJ Hanrahan.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 92nd game)
Leo Cullen's Leinster, who yesterday named James Ryan and Garry Ringrose as new co-captains, are the last of the Irish sides in action as they pop over to Newport to take on the Dragons, who have lost all three games to date.
One-score defeats to Edinburgh and Cardiff were followed up by last weekend’s hammering by Munster in Musgrave Park.
They have not beaten an Irish province since winning at home to Munster in September 2022, while the region’s most recent victory at Rodney Parade was 47-7 against Zebre in October 2022.
Leinster, meanwhile, are on a two-game winning streak after an opening-day loss to Glasgow.
They’ve accounted for Sharks and Edinburgh since and welcome back five Ireland internationals who were on duty at the World Cup.
Dan Sheehan leads the team, while Jimmy O'Brien, Ross Byrne, Joe McCarthy and Ryan Baird also start.
Ben Murphy makes his first Leinster start with Michael Ala'alatoa set for 50th appearance, if called upon off the bench.
Dragons: Cai Evans; Rio Dyer, Steff Hughes (capt), Aneurin Owen, Jared Rosser; Will Reed, Rhodri Williams; Rhodri Jones, Elliot Dee, Lloyd Fairbrother; Matthew Screech, George Nott; Dan Lydiate, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements: James Benjamin, Aki Seiuli, Luke Yendle, Sean Lonsdale, Ryan Woodman, Dane Blacker, Jack Dixon, Ewan Rosser.
Leinster: Ciarán Frawley; Tommy O'Brien, Jamie Osborne, Charlie Ngatai, Jimmy O'Brien; Ross Byrne, Ben Murphy; Jack Boyle, Dan Sheehan (capt), Thomas Clarkson; Joe McCarthy, Jason Jenkins; Ryan Baird, Will Connors, James Culhane.
Replacements: Lee Barron, Paddy McCarthy, Michael Ala’alatoa, Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Cormac Foley, Harry Byrne, Rob Russell.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR, 24th game)
