It's time for round 10 of the BKT United Rugby Championship as teams jostle for position prior to the start of the Guinness Six Nations next week.
There’s a two-week break following this round and with just eight points separating the teams in fourth and 13th, there’s plenty to play for.
Leaders Leinster are first in action as they host Stormers on Saturday before Munster take on Dragons in Wales.
There’s also a double-header on Sunday after Connacht’s trip to Glasgow was pushed back from Friday due to Storm Éowyn, while Ulster have a rare Sunday evening game at home to Zebre.
Find out all you need to know here.
TV
Dragons v Munster (Saturday, 7.35pm) and Ulster v Zebre (Sunday, 5.30pm) are live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. TG4 and Premier Sports will be showing live coverage of Leinster v Stormers (Saturday, 5pm) and Glasgow v Connacht (Sunday, 3.30pm), while all games are shown live on URC.tv.
ONLINE
We'll have a live tracker, scores updates, reports and reaction from from all four games.
WEATHER
After Storm Éowyn, Dublin is set for light rain on Saturday afternoon, 13km/h wind in about 5C.
Munster will play in light rain showers and a gentle breeze in Newport later that evening. Temperatures are forecast for just above freezing.
Similar conditions and temperatures are expected in Glasgow on Sunday afternoon for Connacht's rescheduled game.
Belfast may see the trickiest conditions with gusty winds and heavy rain waiting for Ulster's visitors Zebre. Temperatures of around 3C are forecast.
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Unbeaten Leinster welcome the Stormers to Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon looking to extend their winning run to 14 games across all competitions.
To do so they will have to beat a team they have not defeated in three previous meetings.
Leo Cullen is without most of his Ireland contingent but has fit-again Dan Sheehan and James Lowe to call upon, while RG Snyman and Jordie Barrett are also available.
The Stormers have won their last four games against Irish sides and are in tenth place thanks to victories in their last two matches, against Sharks and Lions in Cape Town.
Their only success on the road in this campaign came against Zebre in round three.
John Dobson's side were beaten 31-22 by Racing in Paris in the Champions Cup last weekend, while Leinster came out 47-21 winners over Bath.
Leinster: Henry McErlean; Andrew Osborne, Liam Turner, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath; Jack Boyle, Dan Sheehan (capt), Rabah Slimani; RG Snyman, Brian Deeny; Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, Max Deegan.
Replacements: John McKee, Paddy McCarthy, Rory McGuire, Diarmuid Mangan, James Culhane, Will Connors, Cormac Foley, Charlie Tector.
Stormers: Warrick Gelant; Ben Loader, Ruhan Nel, Jonathan Roche, Leolin Zas; Manie Libbok, Paul de Wet; Ali Vermaak, Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouché; JD Schickerling, Ruben van Heerden; Deon Fourie (capt), Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos.
Replacements: André-Hugo Venter, Brok Harris, Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat, Marcel Theunissen, Paul de Villiers, Herschel Jantjies, Wandisile Simelane.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
Inconsistent Munster head to Newport on Saturday evening looking for just their fifth win of the campaign.
Ian Costello's side are 11th in the table but victory here would likely see them push into the top half.
They have lost in just one of their last 10 games against the Dragons, that defeat coming in Rodney Parade in September 2022.
They’ve had mixed results in Europe over the last two weekends, a win at home to Saracens was followed by a narrow loss in Northampton in round four.
The Dragons, under interim head coach Filo Tiatia, are rock bottom with a solitary victory coming in round one against Ospreys.
They lost their last Challenge Cup match 60-10 at Lions last weekend.
Full-back Cai Evans and out-half Angus O’Brien are both unavailable for the hosts after undergoing surgery.
Dragons: Huw Anderson; Rio Dyer, Aneurin Owen (capt), Harri Ackerman, Jared Rosser; Lloyd Evans, Morgan Lloyd; Rodrigo Martinez, Brodie Coghlan, Chris Coleman; Joe Davies, Ryan Woodman; Shane Lewis-Hughes, Dan Lydiate, Taine Basham.
Replacements: James Benjamin, Dylan Kelleher-Griffiths, Paula Latu, Barny Langton-Cryer, George Young, Dane Blacker, Will Reed, Harry Wilson.
Munster: Ben O'Connor; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Shane Daly; Billy Burns, Ethan Coughlan; Dian Bleuler, Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager; Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern; Jack O’Donoghue (capt), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Danny Sheahan, Kieran Ryan, John Ryan, Evan O’Connell, Brian Gleeson, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, John Hodnett.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
Originally scheduled for Friday night, the arrival of Storm Éowyn saw the URC push this clash to Sunday afternoon.
Coming off the back of two excellent Challenge Cup wins, Connacht will be desperate to pick up some URC points as they languish in 13th place.
Their only away win since April came in round three against Scarlets, while their record in Scotland is also poor.
Connacht's only win over there came in 2017, against Edinburgh, and they have never tasted victory away to Glasgow from eight attempts.
The Warriors have lost only once at home to an Irish province since October 2021: 5-14 to Munster in the 2023 URC quarter-final.
Francos Smith’s defending champions are second in the table, a full 10 points behind Leinster.
Their three-game winning run in the championship ended with their 7-10 defeat to Edinburgh in round nine and they lost 24-7 to Harlequins last weekend.
Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Sebastian Cancelliere, Ollie Smith, Duncan Munn, Facundo Cordero; Duncan Weir (capt), Ben Afshar; Patrick Schickerling, Johnny Matthews, Fin Richardson; Euan Ferrie, Alex Samuel; Ally Miller, Henco Venter, Jack Mann.
Replacements: Grant Stewart, Nathan McBeth, Sam Talakai, Macenzzie Duncan, Joe Roberts, Angus Fraser, Sean Kennedy, Kerr Johnston.
Connacht: Santiago Cordero; Chay Mullins, Piers O'Conor, David Hakwshaw, Byron Ralston; JJ Hanrahan, Caolin Blade; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Jack Aungier; David O'Connor, Joe Joyce; Josh Murphy, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jordan Duggan, Sam Illo, Oisin Dowling, Paul Boyle, Matthew Devine, Jack Carty, Finn Treacy.
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Ulster are looking to make it two home wins in a row after last weekend's big Champions Cup victory over Exeter, a result that saw them sneak into the round of 16.
Richie's Murphy's side arrested a three-game losing streak in the URC when they came away from the round-nine clash against Connacht with a 17-7 win.
Ninth in the table, they have lost their last two URC matches at Kingspan Stadium and have not lost three in succession in the tournament at the venue since 2009.
Zebre Parma's two victories in this campaign were both at home, to Munster and Ospreys, while their most recent away win in the championship was at local rivals Benetton in August.
Massimo Brunello's men, second from bottom on the table, have only one victory over an Irish province since February 2018.
They lost 39-21 at home to Perpignan in the last round of the Challenge Cup.
Ulster: Stewart Moore; Michael Lowry, Ben Carson. Jude Postlethwaite, Zac Ward; Jack Murphy, John Cooney; Eric O'Sullivan, Tom Stewart, Scott Wilson; Harry Sheridan, Kieran Treadwell; Lorcan McLoughlin, Nick Timoney (capt), David McCann.
Replacements: John Andrew, Callum Reid, Corrie Barrett, Alan O'Connor, Matty Rea, Nathan Doak, Jake Flannery, Rob Lyttle.
Zebre Parma: Giacomo Da Re; Alessandro Gesi, Fetuli Paea, Damiano Mazza, Scott Gregory; Giovanni Montemauri, Gonzalo Garcia; Paolo Buonfiglio, Luca Bigi (capt), Muhamed Hasa; Matteo Canali, Leonard Krumov; Rusiate Nasove, Bautista Stavile, Giovani Licata.
Replacements: Giovanni Quattrini, Luca Franceschetto, Juan Pitinari, Giacomo Ferrari, Luca Andreani, Thomas Dominguez, Luca Morisi, Simone Brisighella.
Referee: Ben Breakspear (WRU)
FULL LIST OF ROUND 10 FIXTURES, RESULTS AND STANDINGS
