As we approach the two-thirds mark of the regular season, the contenders and pretenders in the BKT United Rugby Championship are beginning to make themselves known.
The last of the interprovincial games may be in the rear-view mirror, but the same points are on offer this weekend, particularly for Munster and Connacht, who are looking to stay in touch, or even just get back in touch, with the play-off spots before the Champions Cup break.
After last week's dramatic win against Ulster, Munster are delicately placed in the table. A win against the Emirates Lions on Friday night will move them back into the Champions Cup places - for the time being at least - and finally bring their record back to 50% for the season. However, a defeat would undo all the good work of last week in Belfast. Plenty on the line in Cork.
It's an equally important week for Connacht, who desperately need a win against the Cell C Sharks, having fallen eight points back from the playoffs in recent weeks.
After four defeats in five games, Ulster face a tricky Saturday afternoon trip to Benetton, who have picked up consecutive wins against Zebre over Christmas, while Leinster will be looking for a 14th win in a row in all competitions when they face the Ospreys in Swansea.
TV
Connacht v Sharks (Saturday, 5.15pm) is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with Munster v Lions (Friday, 7.35pm) and Ospreys v Leinster (Saturday, 7.35pm) live on TG4. Benetton v Ulster (Saturday, 1pm) is live on Premier Sports.
All games are live on URC TV.
RADIO
Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 will have reaction from this weekend's games.
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 are tricky conditions forecast for Munster v Lions in Cork on Friday. While it will be a mild 10C, there's a strong likelihood of rain, and winds of between 20-30km/hr are expected. Ulster and Benetton will have far easier conditions in Treviso, temperatures of around 9C, and a dry afternoon predicted.
The worst of the weekend's weather will be in Galway for Connacht v Sharks, where plenty of rain is forecast on Saturday, as well as winds of up to 40km/hr. Likewise, it's expected to be a wet and windy evening in Swansea for Ospreys v Leinster.
The schedule hasn't been kind to Munster in recent weeks, with three games in 12 days testing the depth of Graham Rowntree's squad.
The head coach has had to once again rest his international players for the visit of the Lions to Cork, and with Kiran McDonald the latest second row to fall to injury, he's had to get creative with his selections, moving Gavin Coombes into lock.
The late win against Ulster on Sunday has kickstarted their season, and their good record at Musgrave Park will give them confidence against the 13th-place Lions.
Munster have won their last four in Cork since they were beaten by Edinburgh in 2019, while they're yet to be beaten at home by a South African side in the URC.
The Lions have lost back-to-back games over the Christmas period, but Ivan van Rooyen's side have won all four games they've played this season outside South Africa, three of those coming in the URC and one in the Challenge Cup.
The Lions also won the only pervious meeting of these sides, coming from 14-0 down to win 23-21 when the sides met in Johannesburg in March of last year.
Munster: Mike Haley; Shane Daly, Malakai Fekitoa, Rory Scannell, Liam Coombes; Ben Healy, Paddy Patterson; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron, Roman Salanoa; Jean Kleyn, Gavin Coombes; Jack O'Donoghue (capt), John Hodnett, Alex Kendellen.
Replacements: Scott Buckley, Dave Kilcoyne, Stephen Archer, Cian Hurley, Jack O'Sullivan, Conor Murray, Dan Goggin, Patrick Campbell.
Emirates Lions: Quan Horn; Stean Pienaar, Henco van Wyk, Marius Louw (capt), Edwill van der Merwe; Jordan Hendrikse, Morne van den Berg; JP Smith, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye; Ruan Venter, Darrien Landsberg; Jarod Cairns, Emile van Heerden, Emmanuel Tshituka.
Replacements: Michael van Vuuren, Morgan Naude, Ruan Smith, Willem Alberts, Sibusiso Sangweni, Andre Warner, Gianni Lombard, Manuel Rass.
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU, 5th league game).
In normal circumstances, Ulster would be expected to have far too much for the Italians, even away from home, but Dan McFarland's side are looking quite vulnerable on this trip to Treviso.
Four defeats in five games, the latest seeing them blow a 14-5 lead against Munster in the final 10 minutes on New Year's Day, have left the province third in the table, and eight points back from the second-place Stormers.
Defeat to Benetton would see their poor form extend to a genuine crisis. In 27 previous meetings between the sides, Benetton have only won once (in 2011), while the Italians have lost seven in a row against Irish opposition, with their last win against one of the provinces coming against Connacht in the 2021 Rainbow Cup.
Marco Bortolami's side climbed up to seventh in the table courtesy of wins against Zebre in recent weeks, but four of their six wins this season have been against their Scottish/Italian Shield rivals.
Benetton: Rhyno Smith, Edoardo Padovani, Ignacio Brex, Tommaso Menoncello, Onisi Ratave; Tomas Albornoz, Alessandro Garbisi; Federico Zani, Giacomo Nicotera, Simone Ferrari; Niccolò Cannone, Federico Ruzza; Sebastian Negri, Michele Lamaro (capt), Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Siua Maile, Cherif Traore, Tiziano Pasquali, Riccardo Favretto, Giovanni Pettinelli, Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, Jacob Umaga, Marco Zanon.
Ulster: Mike Lowry; Robert Baloucoune, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Eric O'Sullivan, Rob Herring, Jeff Toomaga-Allen; Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (capt); Greg Jones, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Rory Sutherland, Andy Warwick, Alan O’Connor, Duane Vermeulen, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore, Ethan McIlroy.
Referee: Ben Whitehouse (WRU, 87th competition game).
With just seven games left in the regular season, Connacht need to start winning fast if they're to stand any chance of securing Champions Cup qualification for next season.
Andy Friend's side had been in a good run of form before Christmas, but back-to-back defeats against Ulster and Leinster have seen them fall eight points back from the play-off spots.
Their scrum and lineout continued to impress in defeat to Leinster on new Year's Day, but their attack was once again flat for the majority of the game, as they continued to kick possession back to the league leaders.
The kicking game will likely be a major factor this week, with rain and strong winds forecast for the visit of a Sharks side who have won five games in a row in all competitions since the sacking of head coach Sean Everitt.
Connacht have lost their last three games against South African sides, but all three of those were away from home, with the province beating both the Bulls and Stormers at the Sportsground last term.
The Sharks are also yet to register a win on Irish soil, losing to Munster and Ulster last season, as well as being beaten by Leinster at the RDS in October.
The Durban outfit have left their Springboks at home and sent a second-string side to Galway due to a demanding schedule that sees them host Bordeaux-Bègles next weekend, followed by another trip north to tackle Harlequins and Edinburgh.
Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Makazole Mapimpi are all given the weekend off, with just Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Marnus Potgieter and Henco Venter retained from the team that crushed the Vodacom Bulls last week.
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; John Porch, Tom Farrell, Cathal Forde, Mack Hansen; Jack Carty (capt), Kieran Marmion; Denis Buckley, Shane Delahunt, Finlay Bealham; Oisín Dowling, Darragh Murray; Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver, Shamus Hurley-Langton.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jordan Duggan, Dominic Robertson-McCoy, Leva Fifita, Cian Prendergast, Caolin Blade, Conor Fitzgerald, Byron Ralston.
Cell C Sharks: Anthony Volmink, Yaw Penxe, Murray Koster, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Marnus Potgieter; Nevaldo Fleurs, Cameron Wright; Ntuthuko Mchunu, Fezo Mbatha, Carlu Sadie; Thembelani Bholi, Reniel Hugo (capt); James Venter, Henco Venter, Celimpilo Gumede.
Replacements: Kerron van Vuuren, Dian Bleuler, Khutha Mchunu, Ockie Barnard, Corne Rahl, Grant Williams, Lionel Cronje, Ethan Hooker.
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU, 37th competition game).
Sunday's win against Connacht at the RDS made it 13 wins from 13 games in all competitions for Leinster this season, and Leo Cullen's side already look a sure bet for a home-quarter final later this season.
The Ospreys have been frustratingly inconsistent this season. Toby Booth's side have won their last two games in the URC, drawing with defending champions Stormers, and earning a famous victory away to Montpellier in the Champions Cup, but home defeats to the Lions and Connacht, as well as a loss versus Dragons, sees them struggling in the bottom half of the table.
Leinster have won on three of their last four visits to Swansea, while they've only lost one of their last six games against Welsh sides.
The Ospreys have also lost their last three meetings with Irish provinces, since beating Ulster in December 2021, and they've won just two of their last seven home games in all competitions.
Ospreys: Cai Evans; Mat Protheroe, Michael Collins, Kieran Williams, Keelan Giles, Owen Williams, Reuben Morgan-Williams; Nicky Smith, Dewi Lake, Tomas Francis; Rhys Davies, Alun Wyn Jones, Ethan Roots, Justin Tipuric (capt), Morgan Morris.
Replacements: Scott Baldwin, Gareth Thomas, Tom Botha, Huw Sutton, Harri Deaves, Matthew Aubrey, Joe Hawkins, Jack Walsh.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Jordan Larmour, Jamie Osborne, Charlie Ngatai, Jimmy O'Brien; Harry Byrne, Cormac Foley; Cian Healy, Dan Sheehan, Michael Ala’alatoa; Ross Molony, Brian Deeny; Rhys Ruddock (capt), Scott Penny, Jack Conan.
Replacements: John McKee, Michael Milne, Vakhtang Abdaladze, James Ryan, Josh van der Flier, Nick McCarthy, Ross Byrne, Rob Russell.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 30th competition game).
FULL URC FIXTURES, RESULTS AND TABLE
Watch live coverage of Connacht v Sharks (Saturday, 5.15pm) in the BKT United Rugby Championship on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
