With the Six Nations on a down-week, the focus shifts back to the Irish provinces, all of whom are in action this weekend.
Fourteen of Andy Farrell's Ireland squad have been released back from camp to feature in the United Rugby Championship, many of whom will feel a good performance this weekend could put them in the hunt for a place in the team to face Italy next week.
Munster are the first of the Irish sides in action, with Johann van Graan's men hosting Edinburgh at Thomond Park on Friday night, looking to get back on track after last week's defeat to Glasgow at Scotstoun.
On Saturday evening, Leinster welcome the sixth-placed Ospreys to the RDS at 5pm, knowing a win will see them leapfrog Ulster - for the time being at least - at the top of the table.
Connacht are also in action Saturday night, but their focus is on arresting their terrible recent form, losing four games in a row since their victory against Munster on New Year's Day. Andy Friend's side are away to the Scarlets in Llanelli.
And Ulster are also in Wales on Sunday, with the league leaders traveling to the Dragons for an afternoon kick-off at Rodney Parade.
TV
Leinster v Ospreys is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, while Munster v Edinburgh and Scarlets v Connacht are live on TG4.
RADIO
Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 will have updates from Leinster v Ospreys at the RDS.
ONLINE
RTE.ie/sport will have live scoring and blogs across the weekend with match reports and reaction from the grounds. All games are live on URC TV.
WEATHER
It's set to be cold, wet and windy across all four games this weekend after Storm Eunice hitting on Friday.
FULL TABLE, RESULTS AND FIXTURES
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Munster looked out of sorts in their 13-11 defeat to Glasgow Warriors last week; even senior coach Stephen Larkham admitted they were off in "every aspect of the game".
Luckily they've been able to welcome Dave Kilcoyne and Craig Casey back to add extra quality to their side this week, while Gavin Coombes is again involved after also being released for the game in Glasgow.
Edinburgh were easily beaten by Leinster last week at the RDS, but they did dominate the early stages of each half, and it could have been a far different game had they not been so wasteful in attack.
Mark Bennett, Blair Kinghorn, Ben Vellacott, and Nick Haining return from Scotland camp to beef up Mike Blair's side, who have lost two in a row since hitting top spot in the URC table a few weeks ago.
League games in the Six Nations window often get forgotten about, but this one is crucial for Munster, who can leapfrog Edinburgh and get back into the top four with victory.
It's seven years since Edinburgh's last win in Limerick, but they came within inches of doing so on their last visit, with Ben Healy's long-range penalty giving Munster a 25-23 win in October 2020.
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Chris Farrell, Dan Goggin, Simon Zebo; Ben Healy, Craig Casey; Dave Kilcoyne, Diarmuid Barron, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O'Donoghue (capt), Chris Cloete, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Alex Kendellen, John Hodnett, Neil Cronin, Jack Crowley, Shane Daly.
Edinburgh Rugby: Henry Immelman; Ramiro Moyano, Mark Bennett (capt), James Lang, Emiliano Boffelli; Blair Kinghorn, Ben Vellacott; Boan Venter, Adam McBurney, Lee-Roy Atalifo; Marshall Sykes, Glen Young; Nick Haining, Connor Boyle, Ben Muncaster
Replacements: Dave Cherry, Sam Grahamslaw, Jake Armstrong, Pierce Phillips, Mesulame Kunavula, Henry Pyrgos, Charlie Savala, Chris Dean
While the Ospreys may have been victorious on their last trip to the RDS, it's 10 years since they last won twice in a row away to Leinster.
The defending champions are yet to hit their peak this season in the URC, but a win will see them temporarily go above Ulster to the top of the table.
The Ospreys started the season well, but their away form has caused them to stutter, losing three away games on the spin since beating Benetton in Italy.
Ciaran Frawley's nasty facial injury last week sees him sidelined for the next four to six weeks, but Leo Cullen has been able to draft Ryan Baird, Jordan Larmour and Cian Healy into his squad.
Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien; Jordan Larmour, Jamie Osborne, Harry Byrne, Dave Kearney; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath (capt); Cian Healy, James Tracy, Michael Ala'alatoa; Ross Molony, Ryan Baird; Martin Moloney, Scott Penny, Max Deegan
Replacements: Seán Cronin, Peter Dooley, Thomas Clarkson, Jack Dunne, Rhys Ruddock, Nick McCarthy, Rory O'Loughlin, James Lowe
Ospreys: Dan Evans; Keelan Giles, Michael Collins, Keiran Williams, Luke Morgan; Stephen Myler, Rhys Webb (capt); Nicky Smith, Sam Parry, Tom Botha; Bradley Davies, Will Griffiths; Ethan Roots, Harri Deaves, Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Elvis Taione, Rhodri Jones, Rhys Henry, Lloyd Ashley, Dan Lydiate, Reuben Morgan Williams, Gareth Anscombe, Tiaan Thomas Wheeler
Connacht have earned plenty of praise for their style of rugby this season, but the pressure is starting to mount on them to deliver results.
Since beating Munster on New Year's Day, Andy Friend's side have seen themselves give up big leads to lose against both Leicester Tigers and Stade Francais.
Following that, they were easily beaten by Glasgow and Ulster in the URC, falling to 10th in the table heading into this weekend.
It's already looking like a longshot for them to qualify for the Champions Cup again next season, but if they are to go on a run, it needs to start against the Scarlets.
However, history doesn't favour them in this fixture; their last away win in Llanelli came at the old Stradey Park way back in 2004, whole their last visit to Parc Y Scarlets saw them lead by 20 points before a second half collapse.
Scarlets: Ioan Nicholas; Tom Rogers, Johnny Williams, Scott Williams (capt), Ryan Conbeer; Dan Jones, Dane Blacker; Steff Thomas, Daf Hughes, Samson Lee; Sam Lousi, Morgan Jones; Aaron Shingler, Shaun Evans, Sione Kalamafoni.
Replacements: Marc Jones, Phil Price, Javan Sebastian, Jac Price, Carwyn Tuipulotu, Kieran Hardy, Rhys Patchell, Joe Roberts.
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; Peter Sullivan, Sammy Arnold, Tom Daly, John Porch; Jack Carty (capt), Kieran Marmion; Jordan Duggan, Dave Heffernan, Tietie Tuimauga; Niall Murray, Leva Fifita; Cian Prendergast, Jarrad Butler, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Greg McGrath, Jack Aungier, Eoghan Masterson, Abraham Papali’i, Caolin Blade, Conor Fitzgerald, Tom Farrell.
Leaders Ulster have reacted well to their January defeat to Munster, with four wins in a row - two of which came in the URC - seeing them go back to the top of the table.
Dan McFarland's side have also been boosted this week with the return of several internationals from the Ireland camp, as they look to solidify their position.
Ulster haven't lost to the Dragons since 2015, and the Welsh side are yet to even win at home this season, with their last victory at Rodney Parade coming in the Rainbow Cup.
Dean Ryan's side are second from bottom in the URC with just one win this season, although they did halt their losing run last time out with a 13-13 draw against Benetton.
However, Ulster have tripped up already this season in the principality, losing to the Ospreys in Swansea.
Sunday's game will also see Ulster hooker Bradley Roberts come up against his future club, with the Welsh international joining the Dragons from the start of next season.
Dragons: Josh Lewis, Jonah Holmes, Adam Warren, Aneurin Owen, Rio Dyer, Sam Davies, Gonzalo Bertranou; Greg Bateman, Taylor Davies, Chris Coleman, Joe Davies, Joe Maksymiw, Harri Keddie (capt), Ollie Griffiths, Dan Baker
Replacements: TBC, Aki Seiuli, Mesake Doge, Huw Taylor, George Young, Rhodri Williams, Ioan Davies, Will Talbot-Davies
Ulster: Rob Lyttle, Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Ben Moxham, Billy Burns, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Tom O'Toole, Kieran Treadwell, Sam Carter, David McCann, Marcus Rea, Nick Timoney (capt).
Replacements: Brad Roberts, Eric O’Sullivan, Marty Moore, Cormac Izuchukwu, Matty Rea, David Shanahan, Ian Madigan, Stewart Moore.
