With just two rounds left to play in the regular season of the BKT United Rugby Championship, there's a lot on the line for all four provinces.
After last week's heavy defeat to Munster at Thomond Park, Connacht are effectively in knockout rugby already. Pete Wilkins' side welcome the Stormers to Galway on Saturday evening with their season on the line as they look to get into the play-offs.
The big game of the weekend from an Irish perspective is the meeting of Ulster and Leinster in Belfast on Saturday night.
Ulster know one more win should be enough to make sure of their play-off spot, and Champions Cup qualification, but Leinster also have a lot to play for, as they look to edge ahead of Glasgow to become top seed before the end of the campaign.
Munster are the first of the Irish sides in action this weekend.
The defending champions are away to Edinburgh on Friday night looking to extend their winning run in the league to eight games, which would see them put pressure on both Leinster and Glasgow ahead of their games on Saturday.
ONLINE
We'll have live blogs, and lives scoring as well as reports and reaction from the games.
TV
You can see live coverage of Connacht v Stormers from 4.30pm on Saturday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
Edinburgh v Munster (Friday, 7.35pm) and Ulster v Leinster (Saturday, 7.35pm) are both live on TG4 and Premier Sports,
All games are also shown live on URC.tv.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary of Ulster v Leinster on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1, while there will also be updates from Connacht v Stormers at the Dexcom Stadium.
WEATHER
It looks like another weekend of favourable conditions for the Irish provinces.
Munster's game away to Edinburgh should see a dry evening with temperatures in the low teens, and moderate winds.
Connacht and the Stormers will also have a dry track in Galway, with temperatures forecast around 14C and cloudy for the 5.05pm kick-off, and winds of around 18 km/hr.
In Belfast, it should also be a great evening for a game, with Ulster and Leinster's clash set for similar conditions.
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Munster head to Edinburgh on Friday night knowing a win would send them top of the table overnight, before Leinster and Glasgow have the chance to leapfrog them.
The defending champions are on a seven-game winning run in the URC.
They have a great recent record against the Scottish side, winning each of their last five meetings, while they were 38-17 winners on their previous visit to the Hive Stadium in 2022.
Edinburgh have won their last two games against Irish provinces, defeating Connacht at home and Ulster away, and they've lost just once this season at home in the URC.
Sean Everitt's side are without Argentina winger Emiliano Boffelli, but can pick an otherwise strong squad, including Scotland internationals Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe.
Former Munster out-half Ben Healy starts at 10 for the Scottish side, with the Tipperary man having played all but four minutes of the URC season, and is the league's top-scorer on 153 points.
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Oli Jager; Fineen Wycherley, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Jack O'Donoghue, Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Eoghan Clarke, Mark Donnelly, John Ryan, RG Snyman, Tom Ahern, Conor Murray, Rory Scannell, Brian Gleeson.
Edinburgh: Wes Goosen; Matt Currie, Mark Bennett, James Lang, Duhan van der Merwe; Ben Healy, Ben Vellacott (co-capt); Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, WP Nel;, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist (co-capt); Jamie Ritchie, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata.
Replacements: Dave Cherry, Boan Venter, Javan Sebastian, Marshall Sykes, Luke Crosbie, Ali Price, Cammy Scott, Chris Dean.
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
Depending on results elsewhere, Connacht's play-off hopes could be over if they don't win against the Stormers on Saturday evening.
While they could, in theory, still be alive if they lose this weekend, they would need a miracle away to Leinster in Round 18 to sneak into the top half.
Saturday's 47-12 defeat away to Munster last week proved to be damaging for Pete Wilkins' side, who come into the week ninth in the table, four points back from Benetton in eighth.
This weekend's visitors Stormers are fifth after last week's unconvincing win at the Dragons, as they look to reach the final for the third year in a row.
The South Africans beat Connacht twice last season, including a 43-25 win in the semi-final in Cape Town, but are without a win in five games on Irish soil.
Their best away result in Ireland was a 22-22 draw with Leinster at the RDS in March 2023, while their only previous visit to Galway was in February 2022, with Connacht winning 19-17.
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; John Porch, David Hawkshaw, Bundee Aki, Byron Ralston; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Peter Dooley, Dave Heffernan (capt), Finlay Bealham; Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray; Cian Prendergast, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jordan Duggan, Jack Aungier, Oisín Dowling, Jarrad Butler, Colm Reilly, Cathal Forde, Santiago Cordero.
Stormers: Warrick Gelant; Suleiman Hartzenberg, Dan du Plessis, Damian Willemse, Angelo Davids; Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies; Brok Harris, Joseph Dweba, Frans Malherbe; Salmaan Moerat (capt), Ruben van Heerden; Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Hacjivah Dayimani.
Replacements: Andre-Hugo Venter, Kwenzo Blose, Neethling Fouche, Adre Smith, Marcel Theunissen, Stefan Ungerer, Jean-Luc du Plessis, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Fresh from signing a two-year contract at the province, Richie Murphy's first game as permanent head coach of Ulster could hardly be tougher.
The province host Leinster at a sold-out Kingspan Stadium, as they look to cement their place in both the play-offs, and move a step closer to Champions Cup qualification.
Three wins in a row in the URC have seen Ulster move up to sixth in the table, but with the province just a point ahead of both Edinburgh and Benetton, there's very little margin for error.
Ulster have a good recent record against their neighbours, winning three of their last six meetings in all competitions, including a 22-21 victory at the RDS on New Year's Day.
Leinster, however, won on their last visit to Belfast, a 20-17 victory back in September 2022.
Leo Cullen's side need wins themselves if they want to get the top seed going into the play-offs, and that should be reflected in their team selection, with several frontline players expected to be involved despite their Champions Cup final with Toulouse looming next week.
Ulster: Ethan McIlroy; Mike Lowry, Will Addison, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Eric O'Sullivan, Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole; Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor (capt); Cormac Izuchukwu, David McCann, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Andy Warwick, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, Matty Rea, Nathan Doak, Stewart Moore, Jude Postlethwaite.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Tommy O'Brien, Jimmy O’Brien, Charlie Ngatai, Rob Russell; Harry Byrne, Cormac Foley, Cian Healy, Rónan Kelleher, Michael Ala’alatoa; James Ryan (capt) Brian Deeny; Max Deegan, Will Connors, Jack Conan.
Replacements: John McKee, Michael Milne, Thomas Clarkson, Ross Molony, Scott Penny, Luke McGrath, Sam Prendergast, Ben Brownlee.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
Full list of fixtures, results and standings here.
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