After Ireland claimed a second successive Six Nations title, attention turns to the United Rugby Championship and we enter the final third of the regular season.
There are two BKT URC rounds to be played before the Irish sides return to European action with Munster taking on Ospreys on Friday night.
Richie Murphy begins his tenure at Ulster with a visit to take on the Sharks in Durban on Saturday afternoon.
Connacht welcome the Lions to Galway and Leinster are at Zebre Parma, both games also on Saturday.
Here's all you need to know about the games.
ONLINE
We'll have live scoring, trackers, as well as reports and reaction from the games.
TV
Connacht v Lions (Saturday 5.15pm) and Zebre v Leinster (Saturday, 7.35pm) are live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
TG4 will be showing live coverage of Ospreys v Munster (Friday, 7.35pm), while Sharks v Ulster (Saturday, 1pm) is on Premier Sports.
All games are shown live on URC.tv.
France v Ireland (Saturday 2.15pm) in the opening round of the Women's Six Nations is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
RADIO
Updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Munster head to Swansea looking to build on wins over Scarlets and Zebre that lifted them back into the play-off places.
Graham Rowntree's side were without a victory in their first five away games in all tournaments this season but have now won their last two on the road, at Toulon and at Scarlets.
They have won their last four fixtures against Welsh regions and lost just once to Ospreys since 2016, an away fixture in October 2021.
Ospreys' five-game winning run in all tournaments ended with their 15-19 loss at Edinburgh in Round 11.
Toby Booth’s men beat Ulster 19-17 at Swansea.com Stadium in Round 10, their first victory over an Irish province since December 2021.
Ospreys: Iestyn Hopkins; Alex Cuthbert, Evardi Boshoff, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles; Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Nicky Smith, Sam Parry, Tom Botha; James Ratti, Rhys Davies; Jeandre Rudolph, Justin Tipuric (capt), Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Lewis Lloyd, Garyn Phillips, Rhys Henry, Huw Sutton, Harri Deaves, Cameron Jones, Jack Walsh, Owen Watkin.
Munster: Mike Haley; Seán O'Brien, Antoine Frisch, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; Joey Carbery, Craig Casey; Josh Wycherley, Niall Scannell, John Ryan; Tom Ahern, RG Snyman; John Hodnett, Alex Kendellen (capt), Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Eoghan Clarke, Jeremy Loughman, Stephen Archer, Jack O'Donoghue, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU, 12th game)
The Richie Murphy era gets under way at Ulster with a visit to bottom of the table Sharks.
The Ireland Under-20s head coach takes over from Dan McFarland, who departed after defeat to Ospreys in round 10.
Murphy was appointed on an interim basis until the end of the season.
Assistant Dan Soper took charge of the team when they recorded a 49-26 win over Dragons last time out.
Ulster have won just twice away from home this season, at Zebre in round 1 and at Leinster in round 9 but they have won their last six matches against South African opponents.
Sharks have slipped to five successive URC defeats since their 69-14 win at home to Dragons on 25 November.
They have beaten Irish provinces just twice in the championship, winning at home to Leinster and Connacht in April 2022.
Sharks: Aphelele Fassi; Eduan Keyter, Lukhanyo Am (capt), Ethan Hooker, Makazole Mapimpi; Siya Masuka, Jaden Hendrikse; Ntuthuko Mchunu, Bongi Mbonambi, Hanro Jacobs; Eben Etzebeth, Gerbrandt Grobler; Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka, George Cronje
Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Corne Rahl, Jeandre Labuschagne, Cameron Wright, Curwin Bosch, Francois Venter
Ulster: Will Addison; Ethan McIlroy, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Mike Lowry; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Steven Kitshoff, Tom Stewart, Tom O'Toole; Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (capt); Harry Sheridan, David McCann, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Scott Wilson, Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, Nathan Doak, Jude Postlethwaite, Sean Reffell.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 98th game)
Connacht will aim to keep in touch with rivals Munster and Ulster as the sides chase home play-off places.
Pete Wilkins' charges have won their last three league matches since their 19-20 defeat at Ulster in round 8 and have lost just one of their last ten URC fixtures at Dexcom Stadium, 22-24 to Leinster on 2 December.
They also boast a nine from nine win record against South Africa opponents at home.
Lions only victory outside of South Africa in the championship in the last 12 months was on their visit to Scarlets in November. Lions have won just one of their nine previous encounters with Irish provinces, beating Munster 23-21 in Johannesburg in March 2022.
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; Byron Ralston, David Hawkshaw, Cathal Forde, Andrew Smith; JJ Hanrahan, Caolin Blade (capt); Denis Buckley, Tadgh McElroy, Jack Aungier; Niall Murray, Joe Joyce; Cian Prendergast, Conor Oliver, Sean O’Brien.
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Jordan Duggan, Sam Illo, Darragh Murray, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Colm Reilly, Jack Carty, Paul Boyle.
Lions: Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Marius Louw (capt), Edwill van der Merwe; Jordan Hendrikse, Sanele Nohamba; JP Smith, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye; Etienne Oosthuizen, Reinhard Nothnagel; JC Pretorius, Emmanuel Tshituka, Francke Horn
Replacements: Jaco Visagie, Morgan Naude, Conraad van Vuuren, Darrien Landsberg, Izan Esterhuizen, Hanru Sirgel, Morne van den Berg, Stean Pienaar
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU, 53rd game)
Leinster go on the road as they look to extend their lead at the top of the table.
Leo Cullen's side currently sit four points clear of Bulls after recent wins over Benetton and Cardiff.
The visitors have lost only once to an Italian opponent since 2010, 15-17 at home to Benetton in April 2018, while they have won all 17 previous fixtures they have played against Zebre.
Zebre Parma’s only victory in the URC this campaign was 12- 10 at home to Sharks in November.
The Italians have not beaten an Irish province since their 19-11 win over Connacht in Galway in February 2018.
Zebre Parma: Jacopo Trulla; Scott Gregory, Luca Morisi, Fetuli Paea, Simone Gesi; Geronimo Prisciantelli, Gonzalo Garcia; Muhamed Hasa, Giampietro Ribaldi, Juan Pitinari; David Sisi, Leonard Krumov; Davide Ruggeri, Iacopo Bianchi, Giovanni Licata (capt)
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Luca Rizzoli, Riccardo Genovese, Matteo Canali, Josh Kaifa, Alessandro Fusco, Damiano Mazza, Pierre Bruno
Leinster: Ciarán Frawley; Rob Russell, Liam Turner, Jamie Osborne, Andrew Osborne; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath; Ed Byrne, Lee Barron, Thomas Clarkson; Ross Molony, Jason Jenkins; Will Connors, Scott Penny (capt), Max Deegan.
Replacements: John McKee, Michael Milne, Michael Ala'alatoa, Brian Deeny, Diarmuid Mangan, Fintan Gunne, Sam Prendergast, Henry McErlean.
Referee: Morne Ferreira (SARU)
