The final stretch of the domestic season begins this weekend as the BKT URC knockout phase kicks off.
Three of the four Irish provinces have made the post-season with champions Munster and Leinster starting with home quarter-finals.
Ospreys visit Thomond Park on Friday night looking to upset the odds after jumping from 11th to eighth on the final day to reach this stage.
Ulster, meanwhile, are Leo Cullen's side’s opponents at Lansdowne Road, a venue they have not beaten Leinster at since 1989.
ONLINE
We'll have live blogs and live scoring as well as reports and reaction from the games.
TV
You can see live coverage of Munster v Ospreys from 7pm on Friday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player (kick-off 7.35pm).
Leinster v Ulster (Saturday, 5pm) is live on TG4 and Premier Sports
All games are also shown live on URC.tv.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary of Munster v Ospreys on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, while there will also be updates from Leinster v Ulster on RTÉ Radio 1.
WEATHER
Limerick is set for overcast conditions in about 12C, while the game in Dublin on Saturday should be played out under clear sunny skies in about 18C.
Graham Rowntree’s side come into the play-offs on the back of nine successive league wins, some more impressive than others.
But the numbers don’t lie and Munster are on the cusp of a first run of 10 successive URC victories since the winning campaign of 2010/11.
The host’s only defeat in their last 14 fixtures with Ospreys in all competitions was 10-18 at Swansea.com Stadium in October 2021, while the Welsh side's last win at Thomond came in September 2014.
Toby Booth’s men have made the play-offs for the first time since they were semi-finalists in 2016/17 but they have won just one of their last nine fixtures against Irish provinces: 19-17 at home to Ulster in February.
They have made just one change to their line-up from the side that claimed the bonus-point win over Cardiff with Owen Williams coming in for the injured Dan Edwards at out-half.
Antoine Frisch, Gavin Coombes and John Hodnett start for Munster in three change from the side that beat Ulster.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Seán O'Brien, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; RG Snyman, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, John Ryan, Oli Jager, Jack O'Donoghue, Alex Kendellen, Conor Murray, Tony Butler, Mike Haley.
Ospreys: Max Nagy, Luke Morgan, Owen Watkin, Keiran Williams, Keelan Giles, Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tom Botha, James Ratti, Huw Sutton, Jac Morgan, Justin Tipuric (capt), Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Sam Parry, Gareth Thomas, Rhys Henry, Victor Sekekete, Morgan Morse, Luke Davies, Luke Scully, Harri Houston.
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU, 14th game)
Last champions in 2021, Leinster finished third in the regular season after losing three of their last five fixtures.
They have an impressive record at the venue, having played 29 previous URC fixtures at Aviva Stadium and lost just twice, on both occasions to Munster in 2014 and last season’s semi-final.
Ulster, meanwhile, won four of their final five matches to earn sixth spot and a guaranteed place in the Champions Cup next season.
Richie Murphy’s side have made ten visits to Aviva Stadium/Lansdowne Road in all competitions since the Millennium and won just once, 22-19 against Edinburgh in the semi final of the Champions Cup in April 2012.
The teams have met in five previous play-off fixtures, all in Dublin and all won by Leinster.
Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien; Jordan Larmour, Robbie Henshaw, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan (capt); Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: Rónan Kelleher, Cian Healy, Michael Ala'alatoa, Ross Molony, Max Deegan, Luke McGrath, Sam Prendergast, Ciarán Frawley.
Ulster: Stewart Moore; Mike Lowry, Will Addison, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Eric O’Sullivan, Rob Herring (capt), Tom O’Toole; Harry Sheridan, Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, David McCann, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Andy Warwick, Scott Wilson, Greg Jones, Dave Ewers, Nathan Doak, Ethan McIlroy, Jude Postlethwaite.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU, 95th game)
Elsewhere, Bulls welcome Benetton to Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon (2.30pm) with the winner of that taking on Leinster or Ulster.
Glasgow host the Stormers on Saturday evening (7.35pm) and the victors face a semi-final against either Munster or Ospreys.
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