After last week's Round of 16 were saved by just a couple of nail-biters, the Investec Champions Cup quarter-finals look far more evenly matched.
The quarter-final weekend has traditionally been the best in this competition, and while that's no guarantee of drama, it's likely we'll see some more competitive games.
Leinster will be big favourites to continue their march through the competition. Leo Cullen's side are chasing a fourth final appearance in a row, but after last week's 62-0 hammering of Harlequins, they know that they won't have it so easy against a Glasgow side who have pulled off their fair share of away upsets in the last two years.
A week after their thrilling win over La Rochelle, Munster are back on the west coast of France looking to shock another fancied opponent, this time against top-seeds Union Bordeaux-Begles, who were exciting but inconsistent in their 12-point win against Ulster last Sunday.
In the Challenge Cup, Connacht will also be targeting a semi-final place, hosting a rejuvenated Racing 92 at Dexcom Stadium on Saturday night.
TV
Leinster v Glasgow Warriors is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Friday night, with coverage beginning at 7.35pm.
Bordeaux-Begles v Munster (Saturday, 3pm) is live on Premier Sports.
Connacht v Racing 92 (Saturday, 8pm) in the Challenge Cup is also live on Premier Sports.
ONLINE
We'll have live scores updates, reports and reaction from all games.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary of Leinster v Glasgow Warriors on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday evening.
WEATHER
Leinster and Glasgow will be playing in perfect rugby conditions on Friday evening, with a dry forecast and temperatures in the mid-teens, and light wind.
Conditions could be trickier in Bordeaux on Saturday afternoon, where it will be around 21C but there's a chance of some rain showers.
Connacht and Racing 92 will have temperatures around 12C on Saturday night in Galway.
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No stranger to each other in the BKT United Rugby Championship, this will be the ninth meeting of the sides in the Champions Cup, with Leinster going on to win the title after meeting the Warriors in the 2017/18 pool stage.
Glasgow have only beaten Leinster in Europe once, back in their first meeting in 1999.
Franco Smith's side reached this stage after a comfortable win against Leicester Tigers in the round of 16, although the Scots will be without number 8 Henco Venter this week, after he was given a six-week suspension after making contact with the eyes of Leicester prop Dan Cole.
Leinster are on the hunt for a fifth title, and a fourth final appearance in a row. The last time they lost a Champions Cup game outside of the final was away to La Rochelle in the 2021 semis.
Glasgow won when these sides last met in the URC, on the opening day of last season, with the Warriors winning 43-25, although Leinster were without their Irish international contingent.
The URC champions are set to visit the Aviva again in May in the final round of the regular season, and with the pair currently first and second in the table, this could potentially be the first of three meetings between them before the end of the season.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan, Tommy O'Brien, Garry Ringrose, Jordie Barrett, James Lowe, Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Cian Healy, Rónan Kelleher, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, RG Snyman; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (capt)
Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Andrew Porter, Rabah Slimani, Diarmuid Mangan, Caelan Doris, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Robbie Henshaw
Glasgow Warriors: Kyle Rowe; Jamie Dobie, Stafford McDowall, Tom Jordan, Kyle Steyn (capt); Adam Hastings, George Horne; Nathan McBeth, Johnny Matthews, Sam Talakai; Gregor Brown, Alex Samuel; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Sione Vailanu
Replacements: Grant Stewart, Jamie Bhatti, Patrick Schickerling, JP du Preez, Max Williamson, Euan Ferrie, Ben Afshar, Sebastian Cancelliere
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Just as it was against La Rochelle a week ago, this will be Munster's first time taking on Union Bordeaux-Begles in the Champions Cup.
The French side have been scoring for fun this season, averaging just under eight tries and 52 points per game, which has secured them the top seed in the knockout stages.
Last week's 43-31 win against Ulster was far from perfect though. Yannick Bru's side raced out to a 21-0 lead early in the first half, but the province did expose some loose threads for Munster to pull at.
There is some familiarity between the sides. Bordeaux's backs coach Noel McNamara is a former Ireland U20 head coach, while ex-Munster out-half Joey Carbery has been enjoying a fine season at last year's Top14 finalists. Carbery, however, has missed out on a place this week.
The biggest threat posed by this Bordeaux side comes in their backline, which boasts multiple French internationals, notably Louis Bielle-Biarrey. The 21-year-old sensation was rested for the game against Ulster last week, but has scored a remarkable 14 tries in his last nine games for club and country, among a wider record of 26 tries in his last 22 games.
As tough a task as it is for Munster, they will be buoyed by the availability of Alex Nankivell after he won his appeal against a two-game suspension, while there was also good news on Wednesday when it was confirmed that Jack Crowley had signed a contract extension at the province.
Union Bordeaux-Begles: Jon Echegaray; Damian Penaud, Yoram Moefana, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Louis Bielle-Biarrey; Matthieu Jalibert, Maxime Lucu (capt); Jefferson Poirot, Maxime Lamothe, Ben Tameifuna; Adam Coleman, Cyril Cazeaux; Mahamadou Diaby, Guido Petti, Pete Samu
Replacements: Connor Sa, Matis Perchaud, Sipili Falatea, Pierre Bochaton, Marko Gazzotti, Bastien Vergnes-Taillefer, Yann Lesgourgues, Pablo Uberti
Munster: Thaakir Abrahams; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Andrew Smith; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (c); Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Mark Donnelly, Stephen Archer, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern, Conor Murray, Seán O’Brien, Alex Kendellen.
Referee: Nike Amashukeli (GEO)
With their chances of breaking into the top half of the URC table looking slim, the Challenge Cup could be Connacht's best route towards Champions Cup qualification next season.
The province, who are still without head coach Pete Wilkins who is on sick leave, welcome French giants Racing 92 to Galway on Saturday evening in the last eight of the Challenge Cup, looking to set up a home semi-final against either Ospreys or Lyon.
The province have reached a semi-final before in this competition, going down against Toulon in 2010, and they have lost their last four quarter-finals, most recently away to Benetton last year.
Racing have started to rally since parting company with Stuart Lancaster at the end of January, winning four of their last five games, although the suspicion is that they will be holding back some of their key players, with one eye on domestic form.
Connacht: Mack Hansen; Shane Jennings, Hugh Gavin, Bundee Aki, Finn Treacy; JJ Hanrahan, Ben Murphy; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Josh Murphy, Joe Joyce; Cian Prendergast (capt), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Seamus Jansen.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Oisin Dowling, Paul Boyle, Matthew Devine, Josh Ioane, Cathal Forde.
Racing 92: Sam James; Wame Naituvi, Vinaya Habosi, Josua Tuisova, Max Spring (capt); Dan Lancaster, Nolann le Garrec; Eddy Ben Arous, Diego Escobar, Demba Bamba; Boris Palu, Will Rowlands; Maxime Baudonne, Junior Kpoku, Jordan Joseph
Replacements: Robin Couly, Guram Gogichashvili, Lehopoame Leota, Romain Taofifenua, Shingi Manyarara, Donovan Taofifenua, Owen Farrell, Henry Chavancy
Referee: Christophe Ridley (RFU)
Elsewhere in the Champions Cup, Northampton Saints host Castres in the 5.30pm kick-off on Saturday, with the winner set to face either Leinster or Glasgow.
Then, on Sunday, there's an all-French meeting of Toulon and Toulouse, with Munster or Bordeaux to meet the winner in the last four.
The Challenge Cup weekend kicks off Edinburgh hosting the Bulls at 12.30, with the winner taking on Bath or Gloucester, who meet at the Rec on Sunday at 5.30pm.
If Connacht get through Racing 92, the province will host either the Ospreys or Lyon, who face each other at 5.30pm on Saturday in Swansea.
