As we turn towards the final round of pool games in the Champions Cup, the stakes are different for all four Irish provinces.
With three wins from three so far , Leinster's place in the last-16 is secure, but Leo Cullen's side know a win away to the Leicester Tigers will give them home advantage in the next round, as well as the quarter-final should they get there.
Munster are in a sort of holding pattern for their meeting with the Northampton Saints; Graham Rowntree's side are all-but-certain to be in the Round of 16, but a home draw is more than likely out of reach. As such, the URC champions are playing for seeding on Saturday evening.
Ulster are backed into a corner after their defeat to Toulouse. Probable results elsewhere mean that Dan McFarland's side will almost certainly need to beat Harlequins to qualify for the knockout stages.
Connacht kick the weekend off against Bristol on Friday night. While the province can technically still qualify for the next round, it would take some unlikely results elsewhere, although a win should be enough for fifth place in the pool, which would get them into the Challenge Cup knockout stages.
ONLINE
We'll have live blogs, live scoring, reports and reaction across the weekend on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app.
TV
Munster v Northampton Saints is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Saturday, with coverage getting under way at 4.45pm. Connacht v Bristol Bears, Harlequins v Ulster and Leicester Tigers v Leinster will be shown on TNT.
RADIO
There will be live commentary of Harlequins v Ulster on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra from 12.55pm, with the second half live on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport. Munster v Northampton Saints will also be live on RTÉ Radio 1.
Leicester Tigers will be live on Newstalk.
WEATHER
It's looking like a dry evening in Galway for Connacht v Bristol, with temperatures around 5C, but winds of 30km/hr.
Ulster and Harlequins should have ideal conditions to work with at the Twickenham Stoop, with no rain forecast, light wind and temperatures around 6C.
Similar temperatures are forecast for Welford Road where Leinster face Leicester, but there's a chance of some showers in the afternoon.
Munster and Northampton Saints are likely to see some rain in Limerick for their Saturday evening kick-off at Thomond Park, but temperatures are forecast to rise to as high as 9C.
Having lost three game out of three, it's surprising to see Connacht still mathematically in with a chance of qualifying.
For that to happen, the province will have to beat Bristol Bears with a bonus point, and deny the Premiership side anything from the game. If they do that, they will still be relying on Saracens to lose without a bonus-point at home to Lyon, who have already qualified.
With the fifth-place team dropping into the Challenge Cup after the Six Nations, there is still plenty for Connacht to play for, and head coach Pete Wilkins has selected a strong XV, with Finlay Bealham and Bundee Aki brought back into the side.
The game will be a reunion for several players on both sides, with Bristol coached by Pat Lam, who led Connacht to the Pro12 title in 2016, while former Connacht scrum-half Kieran Marmion and out-half AJ MacGinty are in the Bears' matchday 23.
Meanwhile, Connacht forwards coach John Muldoon, and second row Joe Joyce, both arrived at the province from Bristol last summer.
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; Andrew Smith, David Hawkshaw, Bundee Aki, Shayne Bolton; JJ Hanrahan, Caolin Blade (capt); Denis Buckley, Tadhg McElroy, Finlay Bealham; Niall Murray, Joe Joyce; Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Jarrad Butler
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Peter Dooley, Jack Aungier, Oisin Dowling, Conor Oliver, Michael McDonald, Jack Carty, Oran McNulty
Bristol Bears: Max Malins; Kalaveti Ravouvou, Virimi Vakatawa, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Gabriel Ibitoye; AJ MacGinty, Harry Randall; Jake Woolmore, Gabriel Oghre, Kyle Sinckler; Josh Caulfield, Joe Batley; Steven Luatua, Fitz Harding (capt), Magnus Bradbury
Replacements: Will Capon, Sam Grahamslaw, Max Lahiff, Joe Owen, Dan Thomas, Kieran Marmion, 22. James William, Piers O'Conor
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FRA)
With Racing 92 expected to win against bottom of the pool Cardiff, it means it's win or bust for Ulster away to Harlequins.
The simple permutation for Dan McFarland's side is that a win will be enough to see them claim a place in the last 16.
Harlequins have impressed so far in the competition, and are already assured of their place in the next round. Second place in the pool, and a home game in the Round of 16, is still a slight possibility for the English side.
Ulster and Quins have met seven times before in the Champions Cup, with Ulster winning the last five of those, including victories at the Stoop in both 2017 and 2020.
Harlequins: Tyrone Green; Nick David, Oscar Beard, Andre Esterhuizen, Cameron Anderson; Marcus Smith, Danny Care; Joe Marler, Jack Walker, Will Collier; Irne Herbst, George Hammond; Chandler Cunningham-South, Will Evans, Alex Dombrandt (capt).
Replacements: Sam Riley, Fin Baxter, Dillon Lewis, Joe Launchbury, Archie White, Will Porter, Lennox Anyanwu, Will Joseph.
Ulster: Mike Lowry; Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Steven Kitshoff, Tom Stewart, Tom O'Toole; Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (capt); Matty Rea, David McCann, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: John Andrew, Andy Warwick, Marty Moore, Harry Sheridan, Marcus Rea, Nathan Doak, Luke Marshall, Will Addison.
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (FRA)
Pool 4 is the most wide open of the lot.
While Leinster are safely through to the next round, the four teams below them are fighting over three remaining places. The Stormers, Leicester, La Rochelle and Sale Sharks could all either have a home tie in the Round of 16, or be eliminated by Sunday night.
Leo Cullen's side don't have to worry about that though. A win of any kind will be enough for them to get a home last-16 game, but they'll have their sights set even higher, looking to finish in the top four overall seeds, who would also have a home quarter-final should they get there.
This will be the third season in a row the sides have met in the Champions Cup, and the 10th time in total. As well as beating the Tigers in the quarter-final in both 2022 and 2023, Leinster famously saw off Leicester at Murrayfield in the 2009 final, as they lifted the trophy for the first time.
Leicester Tigers: Freddie Steward; Harry Simmons, Matt Scott, Dan Kelly, Ollie Hassell-Collins; Handre Pollard, Tom Whiteley; James Cronin, Julian Montoya (capt), Joe Heyes; Harry Wells, Ollie Chessum; Hanro Liebenberg, Tommy Reffell, Jasper Wiese
Replacements: Archie Vanes, Francois van Wyk, Will Hurd, Sam Carter, Kyle Hatherell, Ben Youngs, Jamie Shillcock, Solomone Kata
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose (co-capt), Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Harry Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (co-capt); Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Michael Ala'alatoa, Ross Molony, Jack Conan, Luke McGrath, Sam Prendergast, Tommy O'Brien
Referee: Andrew Piardi (ITA)
If Munster were to either get knocked out of the Champions Cup or secure a home last-16 game, Bayonne would need to defeat Exeter with a bonus point and deny the Chiefs from picking up a BP of their own. It's hard to see that happening.
With their path to the knockout stage all-but-certain, Graham Rowntree's side will be playing for seeding and momentum ahead of the Six Nations break.
Northampton are already qualified for the next round, and while Phil Dowson's team have nothing to play for in theory, the Premiership leaders should be targeting this as an opportunity to seal a high seeding in the knockouts.
It's the second year in a row these teams have met in the pool stage, with Munster winning both games between the pair last season. They've also beaten the Saints in each of their four meetings at Thomond Park.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Oli Jager; Tom Ahern, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Eoghan Clarke, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Brian Gleeson, Alex Kendellen, Conor Murray, Joey Carbery, Seán O'Brien.
Northampton Saints: George Furbank (capt); Tommy Freeman, Fraser Dingwall, Rory Hutchinson, Ollie Sleightholme; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Alex Waller, Curtis Langdon, Trevor Davison; Temo Mayanavanua, Alex Coles; Courtney Lawes, Tom Pearson, Juarno Augustus
Replacements: Robbie Smith, Emmanuel Iyogun, Elliot Millar-Mills, Alex Moon, Sam Graham, Tom James, Burger Odendaal, Charlie Savala
Referee: Tual Trainini (FRA)
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