Just seven games to go in the URC season, and the first four of them are down for decision this week.
Three of the quarter-finals have Irish involvement, with Connacht, Munster and defending champions Leinster all in action across Friday and Saturday.
First up, Connacht will look to continue their brilliant form in the second half of the season, although Stuart Lancaster's side will need to pull off something special away to the top seeds, Glasgow Warriors, on Friday night.
Munster are back in Pretoria for the second time this season early on Saturday afternoon, where they will take on the Bulls, who finished the season in excellent form after a slow start under Johan Ackermann.
And then Leinster will look to put last week's Champions Cup final defeat behind them, as they aim to salvage their season, hosting for the Lions just three weeks on from their regular season meeting.
Here's everything you need to know ahead of this week's quarter-finals.
ONLINE
We'll have live blogs, reports and reaction on RTÉ.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
TV
Glasgow Warriors v Connacht (Friday 7.45pm) and Leinster v Lions (Saturday 8pm) are live on TG4 and Premier Sports.
Bulls v Munster (Saturday 12pm) and Stormers v Cardiff (Saturday 2.30pm) are live on Premier Sports.
All games are available on URC.tv
WEATHER
It should be a balmy and sunny evening in Glasgow on Friday night for Connacht's meeting with the Warriors. While there is a chance of showers earlier in the day, it's expected to be dry for the 7.45pm kick-off, with temperatures around 16C and a gentle breeze.
It will be warm and sunny for Munster in Pretoria on Saturday where they face the Bulls at altitude, but the temperatures will be a manageable 21C.
And the weather is forecast to be quite muggy in Dublin on Saturday evening for Leinster v Lions, around 17C with the chance of showers.
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It's been an incredible run from Connacht to secure a play-off spot and Champions Cup rugby for next season, and Stuart Lancaster's side look quite dangerous heading into the quarter-finals.
They won eight of their last nine URC games to snatch eighth place, having claimed just two victories in the first half of the season.
Opponents Glasgow locked in the top seed in the play-offs with wins over Ulster and Cardiff in their final two games of the regular season.
While Connacht will travel high on confidence, very few teams go to Scotstoun and come way with a result. The Warriors have lost only twice in the URC at this ground since the start of the 2023/24 season, to Ospreys in March 2025 and to the Bulls in April 2025.
Likewise, Connacht have only ever won twice way to Glasgow, the last of those coming at Firhill in 2010.
The province have lost on all nine of their previous visits to Scotstoun since the Warriors moved there in 2012.
Glasgow Warriors: Josh McKay; Kyle Steyn (capt), Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Kyle Rowe; Dan Lancaster, George Horne; Patrick Schickerling, Johnny Matthews, Zander Fagerson; Scott Cummings, Alex Samuel; Matt Fagerson, Rory Darge, Jack Dempsey.
Replacements: Gregor Hiddleston, Rory Sutherland, Sam Talakai, Jare Oguntibeju, Euan Ferrie, Sione Vailanu, Jack Oliver, Ollie Smith.
Connacht: Sam Gilbert; Shane Jennings, John Devine, Bundee Aki, Shayne Bolton; Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Billy Bohan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Sam Illo; Darragh Murray, Josh Murphy; Cian Prendergast (capt), Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Dave Heffernan, Peter Dooley, Finlay Bealham, Joe Joyce, Sean O'Brien, Matthew Devine, Hugh Gavin, Sean Naughton.
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU).
Having started the season with five wins out of five in the URC, Munster somehow needed three wins from their final four games in the regular season in order to lock down a play-off spot and Champions Cup qualification.
The Bulls will be huge favourites to march on to the semi-finals, particularly with Munster without Tadhg Beirne and Jack Crowley among a bulky injury list, but the province know how to win in Pretoria, having done so in 2024.
This will be the sixth meeting of these sides, with the Bulls leading the head-to-head staked 3-2, their most recent meeting being a 34-31 thriller at Loftus Versfeld back in March, which the South African side shaded.
Johan Ackermann's Bulls went through a mid-season wobble where they lost seven games in a row in all competitions, but they have regathered their form at the right time, with nine wins in their last 10 URC games.
Both Munster and the Bulls have been ever-present in the URC finals across the five seasons of the competition.
Alex Nankivell returns to the Munster XV after his late withdrawal from the side that faced the Lions in the final game of the regulation season. Otherwise there is no change, with Craig Casey again captaining the team.
Bulls: Willie le Roux; Kurt-Lee Arendse, Canan Moodie, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs; Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Wilco Louw; Ruan Vermaak, Ruan Nortje; Marcell Coetzee (capt), Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom.
Replacements: Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Francois Klopper, Cobus Wiese, Jeandre Rudolph, Paul de Wet, Stedman Gans, Sergeal Petersen.
Munster: Mike Haley; Andrew Smith, Alex Nankivell, Seán O'Brien, Shane Daly; JJ Hanrahan, Craig Casey (capt); Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Michael Ala’alatoa; Tom Ahern, Evan O’Connell; Jack O’Donoghue, John Hodnett, Brian Gleeson.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, Conor Bartley, Fineen Wycherley, Gavin Coombes, Ben O’Donovan, Dan Kelly, Alex Kendellen.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR).
Two weeks on from Cardiff's impressive home win against the Stormers to secure their quarter-final and Champions Cup spot, the sides meet again in the last eight, although this one is down in Cape Town.
The Stormers will be big favourites to book their place in the semis next week, where they may have to travel up to Dublin to take on Leinster.
This is Cardiff's first time making the play-offs of any iteration of this competition since 2002/03, and it is made all the more impressive when you consider head coach Matt Sherratt departed a week before the season started, with Corniel van Zyl stepping in.
The foundation for their play-off run was their home form, winning 10 of 11 games in all competitions at the Arms Park, although conversely they picked up just one URC win outside Wales all season.
Stormers only suffered two home defeats in this campaign, while they have won each of their previous two home quarter-finals in 2022 and 2023.
Stormers: Damian Willemse; Seabelo Senatla, Ruhan Nel (capt), Dan du Plessis, Leolin Zas; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Imad Khan; Ntuthuko Mchunu, André-Hugo Venter, Neethling Fouche; Adre Smith, Ruben van Heerden; Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos.
Replacements: JJ Kotzé, Vernon Matongo, Zachary Porthen, Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Ackermann, Marcel Theunissen, Stefan Ungerer, Jurie Matthee.
Cardiff: Cam Winnett; Jacob Beetham, Ben Thomas, Rory Jennings, Josh Adams; Ioan Lloyd, Johan Mulder; Rhys Barratt, Liam Belcher (capt), Keiron Assiratti; Josh McNally, Rory Thornton; James Botham, Dan Thomas, Taine Basham.
Replacements: Daf Hughes, Danny Southworth, Javan Sebastian, George Nott, Alun Lawrence, Evan Lloyd, Ellis Bevan, Tom Bowen.
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
With the Lions facing Leinster and Munster in the final rounds of the regular season, Ivan van Rooyen's side have stayed in Ireland for the last fortnight in preparation for this week's quarter-final.
This is their first time reaching the URC play-offs at the fifth time of asking.
Leinster were 31-7 winners when these sides met in Round 17 earlier this month, and the Lions have only ever won once in their previous 10 games in Ireland, that coming away to Connacht in 2024.
This week's quarter-final comes just one week after Leinster's Investec Champions Cup final defeat to Bordeaux-Begles, as Leo Cullen's side chase some silverware to compensate for that latest European final loss.
This is their eleventh successive appearance in the play-offs for this competition, and they have won all five of their previous quarter-final appearances.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jimmy O'Brien, Rieko Ioane, Jamie Osborne, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Scott Penny, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Alex Usanov, Thomas Clarkson, Diarmuid Mangan, Josh van der Flier, Jamison Gibson-Park, Harry Byrne, Robbie Henshaw.
Lions: Quan Horn; Angelo Davids, Henco van Wyk, Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje; Chris Smith, Nico Steyn; SJ Kotze, PJ Botha, Sebastian Lombard; Reinhard Nothnagel, Darrien Landsberg; Siba Mahashe, Batho Hlekani, Francke Horn (capt).
Replacements: Franco Marais, Eddie Davids, RF Schoeman, Ruan Delport, Siba Qoma, JC Pretorius, Rynhard Jonker, Haashim Pead.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
