The first games of 2023, but the last of the Interpros in the regular season of the BKT United Ruby Championship.
The structure of this campaign has seen the derbies frontloaded on the season, where we've had a big Interpro almost every week so far, but the New Year's Day games will see us round out the Interprovincials until the playoffs, or Champions Cup knockouts at the very least.
We were treated to two close games either side of Christmas, but in contrasting ways. Ulster's 22-20 victory against Connacht didn't seem in any real doubt until the hosts struck for two late tries, and only for Jack Carty's missed conversion, they very nearly secured a valuable draw.
Meanwhile down in Limerick, Leinster and Munster played out a brilliant back and forth tussle, which didn't get the dramatic ending it deserved thanks to some stellar game management by the league leaders.
Leo Cullen's side have been unstoppable this season, 10 wins from 10 in the URC and two out of two in Europe, and they welcome Connacht to the RDS on Sunday looking to maintain that 100% run.
Third-place Ulster look to be back on track after their December wobble, and a win against Munster would see them solidify their place in the top four of the table, while Munster are desperate for points as they look to stay in touch with the bottleneck of teams fighting for the playoff and Champions Cup spots.
TV
Leinster v Connacht (Sunday, 7.35pm) is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with Ulster v Munster (Sunday, 5.15pm) live on TG4.
All games are live on URC TV.
RADIO
RTÉ Radio 1 will have live commentary of both games in a Sport Extra special, starting from 5pm.
ONLINE
Follow our live blogs on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app with match reports and reaction from around the grounds.
WEATHER
There's likely to be showers of rain in Belfast on Sunday afternoon, but the forecast suggests it could clear just in time for kickoff at Kingspan Stadium. Wind will be light but temperatures will drop below 5C on a cold night in Belfast.
Expect similar temperatures in Dublin on Sunday, but there seems to be a better chance of a dry evening at the RDS, with winds of around 15km per hour forecast.
Having gone through a difficult period in December, Ulster's win against Connacht was absolutely priceless, even if they were given a real scare in the final few minutes.
But they've come through it to stay in third place in the table, and while they have to rest Nick Timoney and Tom O'Toole, they'll be relieved to see the likes of Billy Burns, James Hume, Rob Baloucoune and Jacob Stockdale all returning from injury to bolster what looks to be a strong starting XV.
Munster, meanwhile have had to rest Peter O'Mahony, Tadhg Beirne, Craig Casey and Joey Carbey, having picked their strongest side available in the last four games, with pressure building as they look to stay in touch with the top eight.
Ulster have won the last two meetings of these sides, most recently at Thomond Park where they hung on for a 15-14 triumph against an injury-hit Munster in October, while they also won the last meeting of the sides at Kingspan Stadium, their dominant quarter-final win in May ending Johann van Graan's time in charge.
You'd have to go back as far as 2009 for the last time Ulster completed three wins in a row against Munster though, but on the flip side the southern province's record in Intrpro games has been poor recently, with just one win in seven games against their fellow Irish sides.
They did manage to beat Ulster in Belfast in the regular season last term, but that result is their only win in their last six visits to Kingspan Stadium.
Ulster: Stewart Moore; Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Rory Sutherland, Tom Stewart, Marty Moore; Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (capt); Greg Jones, Sean Reffell, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: John Andrew, Eric O'Sullivan, Gareth Milasinovich, Sam Carter, Jordi Murphy, Nathan Doak, Jake Flannery, Ethan McIlroy.
Munster: Mike Haley; Shane Daly, Antoine Frisch, Malakai Fekitoa, Keith Earls; Jack Crowley, Paddy Patterson; Dave Kilcoyne, Niall Scannell, Roman Salanoa; Jean Kleyn, Kiran McDonald; Jack O'Donoghue (capt), Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Josh Wycherley, Stephen Archer, Cian Hurley, Jack O'Sullivan, Conor Murray, Ben Healy, Patrick Campbell.
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU)
As if Connacht's task wasn't tough enough, illness has seen Finlay Bealham, Mack Hansen and former Leinster forward Josh Murphy ruled out of the New Year's Day visit to the RDS, while Bundee Aki is also unavailable, on a rest week after his involvement in Ireland's November win against Australia.
Leinster are resting some internationals, with Garry Ringrose, Hugo Keenan, James Lowe and Andrew Porter all given the night off, but Leo Cullen has been able to welcome back the likes of Johnny Sexton, Jamison Gibson-Park, Rónan Kelleher, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris, to leave them big favourites to record their 13th win in a row in all competitions this season.
The league leaders have been unstoppable this season, but nobody has stood up better to them defensively than Connacht, who held them to just one try and 10 points when the sides met in October.
Andy Friend's side have improved defensively this season, but their attack hasn't clicked. Only Zebre have scored fewer than Connacht's 192 points this season, and that's the main reason they sit 12th in the table, and fourth in the Irish conference.
Leinster have won their last six meetings of the sides, two coming in the Champions Cup, with Connacht's last victory against their neighbours being a famous 35-24 win at the RDS on 2 January 2021.
Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien; Jordan Larmour, Liam Turner, Charlie Ngatai, Rob Russell; Johnny Sexton, Jamison Gibson Park; Michael Milne, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Ala'alatoa; Brian Deeny, James Ryan; Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris.
Replacements: John McKee, Marcus Hanan, Vakhtang Abdaladze, Alex Soroka, Scott Penny, Cormac Foley, Harry Byrne, Jamie Osborne
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Tom Farrell, David Hawkshaw, John Porch; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Darragh Murray, Niall Murray, Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Jarrad Butler.
Replacements: Shane Delahunt, Denis Buckley, Sam Illo, Oisin Dowling, Conor Oliver, Kieran Marmion, Tom Daly, Byron Ralston
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU)
FULL URC TABLE, FIXTURES AND RESULTS
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