After a gripping opening weekend in the BKT United Rugby Championship, this next slate of games has a lot to live up to.
Last weekend's six games were decided by a total of just 12 points, although a similarly close round of games appears unlikley, with some larger point spreads expected in Round 2.
Leinster begin life at their temporary home of the Aviva Stadium, and welcome the Dragons to Dublin on Friday evening, while Munster will be hoping to avoid a banana skin away to Zebre on Saturday afternoon.
Ulster are the first Irish province to tour South Africa, and Richie Murphy's team start that trip in Johannesburg, where they face the Lions.
Connacht are the last of the Irish in action, with Pete Wilkins' side looking to build on last week's impressive performance at Munster, when they host an impressive looking Sharks side in Galway.
ONLINE
We'll have live updates, live scoring, reports and reaction from all four games on rte.ie/sport.
TV
You can watch live coverage of Zebre v Munster (Saturday 3pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
Leinster v Dragons (Friday 7.35pm) and Connacht v Sharks (Saturday 7.35pm) are both on TG4 and Premier Sports, while Lions v Ulster (Saturday 11.55am) is also live on Premier Sports.
All games are shown live on URC.tv.
WEATHER
It should be a dry evening with moderate winds for Leinster's meeting with the Dragons at the Aviva Stadium on Friday evening, with temperatures just below 10C by kick-off at 7.35pm.
Ulster can expect a hot afternoon in Johannesburg, with 24C temperatures forecast, although it's expected to become quite windy as the afternoon progresses.
It will be around 21C and humid in Parma for Zebre v Munster, with a chance of a thunderstorm later in the game.
Connacht and the Sharks can look forward to some good rugby conditions in Galway on Saturday night, where it is expected to be dry and around 11C, with just light winds forecast.
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With the RDS being redeveloped, Leinster begin their temporary stay at the Aviva Stadium with the visit of the Dragons to Lansdowne Road.
Leo Cullen's side have played 30 games at the Aviva in this competition down the years, and have only been beaten twice – with Munster the team to defeat them at the venue in 2014 and 2023.
Leinster have won their last 13 meetings with the Dragons, dating back to January 2016 when the Welsh side were 23-13 winners at Rodney Parade.
The province have also won their last nine meetings with Welsh opposition, since their 27-29 loss in Cardiff in January 2022.
The Dragons got off to a winning start last week, edging a Welsh derby with the Ospreys 23-21, but Dai Flanagan’s side haven’t won back-to-back games in the league since March 2021, while they’ve never won twice in a row to start the season.
This fixture will be a landmark one for Cian Healy, with the Leinster loosehead making his 281st appearance for the province, breaking Devin Toner’s all-time record.
Leinster: Jamie Osborne; Jordan Larmour, Liam Turner, Charlie Tector, Jimmy O'Brien; Ross Byrne, Luke McGrath; Cian Healy, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Brian Deeny, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Will Connors, Jack Conan (capt).
Replacements: Lee Barron, Michael Milne, Rabah Slimani, Joe McCarthy, Josh van der Flier, Fintan Gunne, Harry Byrne, Aitzol King.
Dragons: Angus O'Brien; Rio Dyer, Harry Wilson, Steff Hughes, Jared Rosser; Lloyd Evans, Dane Blacker; Rodrigo Martinez, Brodie Coghlan, Chris Coleman; Ben Carter (capt), George Nott; Ryan Woodman, Harri Keddie, Shane Lewis-Hughes.
Replacement: Oli Burrows, Rhodri Jones, Luke Yendle, Matthew Screech, George Young, Rhodri Williams, Joe Westwood, Ewan Rosser.
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
Ulster are the first of the four Irish provinces to go on their South African tour, and take on a Lions side who are well up to speed in terms of game time.
Ivan van Rooyen's side play their first URC game of the season, but have been in Currie Cup action during the summer and were narrowly beaten by the Sharks in last weekend's final.
Last week's dramatic win against Glasgow was Ulster's fifth victory in their last seven games, but the province's away record is less impressive, with just one win from their last five matches on the road.
Richie Murphy's side have won all three meetings between the pair since the Lions joined the URC, including their only previous visit to Johannesburg in October 2022.
The South Africans have won just three of their 12 previous encounters with Irish provinces in the URC but two of those have come in 2024.
The Lions have also lost just one of their previous five URC games in Johannesburg.
Lions : Quan Horn; Rabz Maxwane, Erich Cronje, Rynhardt Jonker, Tapiwa Mafura; Kade Wolhuter, Sanele Nohamba; Morgan Naude, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye; Reinard Nothnagel, Darrien Landsberg; Jarod Cairns, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn (capt).
Replacements: Franco Marais, Juan Schoeman, Conraad van Vuuren, Ruben Schoeman, Siba Qoma, Renzo du Plessis, Nico Steyn, Henco van Wyk.
Ulster: Ethan McIlroy; Werner Kok, Stewart Moore, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Aidan Morgan, John Cooney; Andrew Warwick, John Andrew, Tom O'Toole; Kieran Treadwell, Alan O’Connor (capt); Matty Rea, Sean Reffell, Nick Timoney.
Replacements: James McCormick, Eric O’Sullivan, Corrie Barrett, Iain Henderson, James McNabney, Nathan Doak, Mike Lowry, David McCann.
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
Munster sit top of the table coming into the second week of games, and are expected to make it two wins from two, having beaten Zebre in all 20 of their previous meetings.
Graham Rowntree's side have won nine regular season games in a row in the URC, with their only defeat in the competition since New Year's Day coming against the Glasgow Warriors in their semi-final in June.
The Italians were narrowly beaten by Cardiff in the opening round, but they are on a dismal run in the URC, losing their last 14 games in a row.
Zebre's most recent success against an Irish province was on a trip to Galway to face Connacht in February 2018.
Munster, meanwhile, have not been beaten by an Italian opponent in the championship since their visit to Treviso in September 2013.
Zebre Parma: Geronimo Prisciantelli; Jacopo Trulla, Giulio Bertaccini, Luca Morisi, Simone Gesi; Giovanni Montemauri, Alessandro Fusco; Danilo Fischetti (capt), Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Matteo Nocera; Matteo Canali, Leonard Krumov; Davide Ruggeri, Samuele Locatelli, Giovanni Licata.
Replacements: Giampietro Ribaldi, Luca Rizzoli, Juan Pitinari, Andrea Zambonin, Giacomo Ferrari, Patricio Baronio, Scott Gregory, Giacomo Da Re.
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Shane Daly, Tom Farrell, Thaakir Abrahams; Tony Butler, Craig Casey; Josh Wycherley, Diarmuid Barron (capt), Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Ruadhán Quinn, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, John Ryan, Jack Daly, Jack O'Donoghue, Conor Murray, Bryan Fitzgerald, Shay McCarthy.
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
While Connacht's performance in last week's derby with Munster exceeded expectations, there is pressure on Pete Wilkins' side to turn that performance into a result this weekend.
The province have now lost four games in a row in the URC, and haven't lost five successive games in the league for more than ten years.
Connacht do have a good record against the Sharks, winning their last two meetings, the most recent of which came in Durban early last season.
The Sharks were crowned Currie Cup champions last weekend with a late win over the Lions.
The South Africans finished 14th in the table last season, but their win in the Challenge Cup saw them secure Champions Cup rugby for this season.
Meanwhile, Connacht's Jordan Duggan was withdrawn from the Emerging Ireland tour after suffering an ankle injury in training. He's replaced by Alex Usanov of Leinster.
Connacht: Santiago Cordero; Mack Hansen, Piers O'Conor, Cathal Forde, Shane Jennings; Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Finlay Bealham; Niall Murray, David O'Connor; Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver, Cian Prendergast (capt).
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Sam Illo, Oisín Dowling, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Caolin Blade, David Hawkshaw, Paul Boyle.
Sharks: Jordan Hendrikse; Eduan Keyter, Jurenzo Julius, Andre Esterhuizen, Ethan Hooker; Siya Masuku; Bradley Davids; Ntuthuko Mchunu; Dylan Richardson, Ruan Dreyer; Jason Jenkins, Gerbrandt Grobler; James Venter, Vincent Tshituka (capt), Emmanuel Tshituka.
Replacements: Fez Mbatha, Trevor Nyakane, Hanro Jacobs, Corne Rahl, Reniel Hugo, Tinotenda Mavesere, Tian Meyer, Gurswin Wehr / Lionel Cronje.
Referee: Federico Vedovelli (FIR)
Elsewhere, defending champions Glasgow Warriors host Benetton on Friday night, with both sides looking for their first wins.
On Saturday, the Bulls begin their season with a home game against Edinburgh, Scarlets and Cardiff meet in in a Welsh derby, while the Ospreys welcome the Stormers to Bridgend.
