The first day of 2024 marks the halfway point of the BKT United Rugby Championship regular season, as Round 9 sees a couple of big Interprovincial ties to close off the festive schedule.
It gets underway at the Sportsground at 3pm where two out of form sides will be looking to get back to winning ways as Connacht host Munster.
Then at 5.15pm, Leinster host an Ulster side who have picked up back to back wins in recent weeks, to get their seasons back on track.
ONLINE
We'll have live blogs of both Interpros from the Sportsground and the RDS, as well as reports and reaction from both games.
TV
Leinster v Ulster is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on New Year's Day, with coverage getting under way at 4.45pm.
TG4 will be showing live coverage of Connacht v Munster (3pm), while all games are shown live on URC.tv.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary of both Connacht v Munster and Leinster v Ulster on RTÉ Radio 1.
WEATHER
It should be a cold afternoon in Galway for Connacht v Munster, with temperatures around 6C. There's a chance of rain, but it's expected most of the showers will land in Galway later in the evening.
It's likely to be similar weather in Dublin where Leinster host Ulster. A sunny afternoon will likely see some rain in the evening, but there's a good chance it will hold off until after the game at the RDS.
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Both sides come into this game on a poor run of form.
Connacht have lost five in a row in all competitions, three of which have come in the URC, and you'd have to go back to the Kieran Keane days of 2018 for the last time they lost four in a row in this championship.
Munster's form isn't as bad, but the defending champions are three games without a win after their draw versus Bayonne was followed by losses against Exeter and Leinster.
Graham Rowntree's side are still looking for a first away win of the season in all competitions, while they've lost on each of their last their last two visits to the Sportsground.
The hosts have been able to pick a strong squad for the Interpro fixture, and have the benefit of four days extra rest from their pre-Christmas game with Ulster. Bundee Aki continues in the centre and will be looking to continue his impressive scoring run, having scored eight tries in his nine games since the start of the World Cup warm-ups.
Munster have been able to bring Tadhg Beirne and Conor Murray back into their squad after they were rested due to IRFU player management guidelines, but while those guidelines giveth they also taketh away, with Jack Crowley and Craig Casey absent.
The province are dealing with a lengthy injury list at the moment but the return of Fineen Wycherley has come at the right time. He moves into the second row, allowing Gavin Coombes return to his preferred number 8.
Connacht: Mack Hansen; Byron Ralston, Cathal Forde, Bundee Aki, Shayne Bolton; JJ Hanrahan, Caolin Blade (capt); Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Darragh Murray, Joe Joyce; Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Jarrad Butler
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Denis Buckley, Jack Aungier, Niall Murray, Oisín Dowling, Michael McDonald, Jack Carty, Conor Oliver.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; Tony Butler, Conor Murray; Jeremy Loughman, Eoghan Clarke, Oli Jager; Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Jack O'Donoghue, Alex Kendellen, Paddy Patterson, Seán O'Brien, Shay McCarthy.
Referee: Chris Busby
Having done the double over Leinster in 2021/22, Ulster were taught a lesson by their rivals last season.
Leo Cullen's side won both URC meetings with Ulster last season, as well as their Champions Cup last 16 meeting. However, it was their game at the RDS last December that will be remembered by both sides for a long time.
Ulster looked like being on course for a famous win when they ran up a 22-3 lead against Leinster, who played an hour of the game with 14 players following a Cian Healy red card. However, Leinster blitzed the northern province after the break to complete an incredible comeback, which sparked a run of six defeats in seven games for Dan McFarland's side.
Ulster have won two of their three Irish derbies this season, but they have won just twice in 21 previous visits to the RDS, 22-18 in March 2013 and 20-10 in November 2021.
Leinster, meanwhile, are on a nine game winning run in all competitions since their opening weekend defeat to Glasgow Warriors back in October.
On paper, Ulster have a big advantage for this meeting, having had four extra days prep over Leinster since their respective wins over Connacht and Munster, but in reality Leinster have had the luxury of heavily rotating their squad. Rob Russell is the only starter from that win against Munster to be included in the first XV this week, with seven of the starting team coming in fresh, including Ireland internationals Jimmy O'Brien, Robbie Henshaw, Jamison Gibson-Park, James Ryan and Caelan Doris.
Ulster make five changes from their narrow win against Connacht, with Rob Herring and Billy Burns among those to come back in after recovering from injury.
Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien; Tommy O'Brien, Liam Turner, Robbie Henshaw, Rob Russell; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Cian Healy, Dan Sheehan, Thomas Clarkson; Jason Jenkins, James Ryan (capt); Ryan Baird, Will Connors, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Lee Barron, Jack Boyle, Michael Ala'alatoa, Joe McCarthy, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Harry Byrne, Josh van der Flier.
Ulster: Will Addison; Rob Baloucoune, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Steven Kitshoff, Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole; Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson; Matty Rea, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Andy Warwick, Scott Wilson, Alan O’Connor, Dave Ewers, Nathan Doak, Mike Lowry, Jude Postlethwaite.
Referee: Frank Murphy
