With an Ireland squad to be named next week, there's no time like the present to strike and make an impression.
Round 5 of the BKT United Rugby Championship throws up another big interpro, as Connacht look to build on their big win against Munster a week ago.
Having secured their first win of the season, the western province welcome Leinster to the Sportsground. Leo Cullen's side top of the table after a near-perfect opening four games.
Munster will hope to arrest their poor form in their first Thomond Park fixture of the season, but they'll need a hugely improved performance to see off the Bulls in Limerick, with the South Africans coming off the back of their first defeat of the campaign.
And Ulster begin their two-game tour of South Africa against the Lions at Emirates Ellis Park, with the Johannesburg side being one of the surprises of the season so far.
TV
Connacht v Leinster (Friday, 7.35pm) is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, while Munster v Vodacom Bulls (Saturday, 7.35pm) is available to watch on TG4.
RADIO
RTÉ Radio 1 Extra will have live commentary of Connacht v Leinster on Friday night at the Sportsground.
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 looks like Connacht and Leinster will have some good old fashioned Sportsground weather conditions, with wind and rain expected in Galway Bay on Friday evening. Saturday will be a showery day in Limerick, but most of the rain is expected to have cleared by the time Munster and the Bulls kick off at 7.35, while temperatures could drop below 10C. Things will be much different down in Johannesburg for Ulster's meeting with the Lions, where the temperature is set to hit 28C during the afternoon game.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
The final leg of what has been a brutal five fixtures for Connacht to start the season, Andy Friend's side arrive into this game with their confidence buoyed after registering their first win a week ago, a 20-11 victory against Munster.
These sides met four times last season, with Connacht's best showing in their Champions Cup last-16 first-leg clash in Galway, Leinster coming away with a five-point win on that occasion.
The trouble for Connacht is that they were soundly beaten in the three other meetings, and the Sportsground has been a welcoming venue for Leinster in recent years, winning on their last five visits to Galway.
Connacht will be hoping for some inside knowledge; David Hawkshaw, Peter Dooley and Josh Murphy all traded blue for green over the summer, and are included in the starting side for this derby at the Sportsground.
Even without Johnny Sexton, and with inexperienced pair Liam Turner and Rob Russell on the wings, Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has been able to include several of his frontline internationals, including the returning Caelan Doris and Tadhg Furlong, the latter playing his first game of the season.
Connacht: Conor Fitzgerald; John Porch, Byron Ralston, David Hawkshaw, Mack Hansen; Jack Carty (capt), Colm Reilly; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Niall Murray, Gavin Thornbury; Josh Murphy, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle.
Replacements: Grant Stewart, Denis Buckley, Jack Aungier, Oisin Dowling, Conor Oliver, Caolin Blade Tom Daly, Ciaran Booth.
Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien; Liam Turner, Garry Ringrose (capt), Charlie Ngatai, Rob Russell; Ross Byrne, Cormac Foley; Ed Byrne, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Ross Molony, James Ryan; Caelan Doris, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan.
Replacements: John McKee, Andrew Porter, Michael Ala'alatoa, Joe McCarthy, Martin Moloney, Nick McCarthy, Ciarán Frawley, Robbie Henshaw.
Referee: Frank Murphy (IRFU)
Compared to their fellow South African sides, the Lions struggled to get to grips with the URC last season, finishing an unremarkable 12th.
But despite losing multiple key players like Wandisile Simelane, Carlu Sadie, Vincent Tshituka and Burger Odendaal, the Johannesburg side have surprised many with their start to the new season.
Three wins out of four, and all of those coming on their European tour, have seen them in a healthy seventh place of the table, ahead of this week's visit of Ulster.
South Africa is a familiar trip for Dan McFarland's side by now, having made two visits last season, and while they lost all three, they could, and probably should, have won two of those.
Ulster have started this season excellently, their only blemish a closely fought defeat to Leinster, in which they fought back to secure a losing bonus-point, while their 151 points scored so far is the highest in the league.
Emirates Lions: Andries Coetzee; Edwill van der Merwe, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw, Quan Horn; Gianni Lombard, Sanele Nohamba; JP Smith, Jaco Visagie, Ruan Dreyer; Willem Alberts, Reinhard Nothnagel (capt); Emmanuel Tshituka, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn
Replacements: PJ Botha, Sti Sithole, Ruan Smith, Pieter Jansen van Vuren, Sibusiso Sangweni, Morne van den Berg, Jordan Hendrikse, Zander du Plessis
Ulster: Michael Lowry; Rob Baloucoune, Luke Marshall, Stuart McCloskey, Rob Lyttle; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Eric O'Sullivan, Rob Herring, Gareth Milasinovich; Alan O’Connor (capt), Sam Carter; Dave McCann, Marcus Rea, Duane Vermeulen
Replacements: John Andrew, Callum Reid, Tom O’Toole, Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore, Ethan McIlroy
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
Time is running out for Munster to find some answers.
Last week's defeat to Connacht was their third in four games to start this season, and with games against Bulls, Leinster and Ulster to come in the next few weeks, it's not inconceivable for them to reach the international break in November with just one win to show from seven games.
Rugby being a sport of momentum, a win and a performance to match against the Bulls this week could kick-start their season at just the right time.
The Bulls have won their last four meetings with Irish sides, including one of those against Munster in Pretoria in March, but Jake White's side looked a shadow of themselves last week in Glasgow as they kicked their three-game European tour off with a 35-21 defeat to Glasgow.
Discipline could well decide this game. While the Bulls have won three out of four games so far they're one of just two teams to have conceded more penalties than Munster this season, with 54 across their opening four games, while they're also averaging one yellow card per game.
Munster: Patrick Campbell; Calvin Nash, Malakai Fekitoa, Dan Goggin, Shane Daly; Joey Carbery, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Edwin Edogbo; Tadhg Beirne, Peter O'Mahony (capt), Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Dave Kilcoyne, Roman Salanoa, Tom Ahern, Jack O'Donoghue, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, John Hodnett
Vodacom Bulls: Kurt-lee Arendse; Cornel Hendricks, Lionel Mapoe, Harold Vorster, Wandisile Simelane; Johan Goosen, Embrose Papier; Simphiwe Matanzima, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Mornay Smith; Walt Steenkamp, Run Nortje; Marcell Coetzee (CAPT), WJ Steenkamp, Elrigh Louw
Replacements: Bismarck Du Plessis, Dylan Smith, Jacques van Rooyen, Ruan Vermaak, Marco Van Staden, Zak Burger, Chris Smith, David Kriel
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
FULL URC TABLE, FIXTURES AND RESULTS
