After a mixed weekend for the Irish provinces, the United Rugby Championship continues, three of the four Irish sides in action.
Ulster had been due to take on Edinburgh on Friday night, but that game will now be played at a later date, after Storm Amy led to their Round 2 meeting being postponed.
The other three provinces are in action across a busy Saturday.
Connacht and Munster will look to build on their winning starts under new head coaches. Connacht host the Scarlets on Saturday afternoon, while Munster have their first home game of the season, welcoming Cardiff to Thomond Park.
Leinster, who were beaten 35-0 by the Stormers in their first game of the season last week, have another difficult outing against the Bulls in Pretoria, in a repeat of last season's final.
TV
Connacht v Scarlets (Saturday, 1.45pm) and Munster v Cardiff (Saturday, 7.45pm) are both live on TG4.
Bulls v Leinster (Saturday, 5.30pm), and all other games are live on Premier Sports and URC.tv
ONLINE
We'll have live score updates, reports and reaction from across the league.
WEATHER
It's only week two of the season, but we're already getting some winter rugby conditions, with several games set to be impacted by the arrival of Storm Amy.
Ulster's clash with Edinburgh on Friday has been postponed, but some of Saturday's games will also see tricky weather conditions.
The yellow rain warning for Galway will have passed by the time Connacht and Scarlets kick-off at Dexcom Stadium, but it's expected their will be some showers during the afternoon, and 40km/hr wind, on a chilly 11C afternoon.
A rainy Saturday in Limerick will hopefully clear up by the time Munster and Cardiff begin at 7.45pm, but it will also be a windy evening, around 12C.
It will be an altogether different day in Pretoria, where Leinster take on the Bulls, with no chance of rain, very little wind, and temperatures still around 20C as the sun sets.
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Having won in the final round last season, and started this campaign off with a victory, Connacht can make it three consecutive URC wins this weekend, something they haven't done since March 2024.
Stuart Lancaster's time in charge got off to a promising start last week as they picked up a bonus-point win at home to Benetton, and have the ideal opportunity to continue that good start with another home game.
Connacht have won their last four encounters with Scarlets since the Welshmen's 41-36 win at Parc y Scarlets in March 2021, while they have also lost just once to any Welsh region in the last four years.
Scarlets disappointed in their 34-21 defeat to Munster a week ago, and Dwayne Peel's side have now lost three games in a row dating back to last season.
The visitors will also travel to Galway without captain Josh Macleod, who suffered a pectoral injury against Munster last week.
Connacht: Sean Naughton; Chay Mullins, David Hawkshaw, Cathal Forde, Shayne Bolton; Jack Carty, Ben Murphy; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Jack Aungier; Darragh Murray, Joe Joyce; Cian Prendergast (capt), Paul Boyle, Sean Jansen
Replacements: Eoin de Buitlear, Jordan Duggan, Sam Illo, David O'Connor, Sean O’Brien, Matthew Devine, Hugh Gavin, Finn Treacy
Scarlets: Blair Murray; Tom Rogers, Joe Roberts, Johnny Williams (capt), Ellis Mee; Joe Hawkins, Gareth Davies; Alec Hepburn, Harry Thomas, Henry Thomas; Max Douglas, Jake Ball; Jarrod Taylor, Dan Davis, Taine Plumtree
Replacements: Kirby Myhill, Sam O’Connor, Harri O’Connor, Tristan Davies, Osian Williams, Dane Blacker, Ioan Nicholas, Macs Page
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU)
After getting nilled for the first time in 17 years last week, Leinster face a daunting trip to Pretoria to take on the Bulls in the second game of their South African tour.
The province may have comfortably defeated the Bulls in the URC final just under four months ago, but they have always struggled at Loftus Versfeld, losing all three of their previous games in Pretoria, and one of those on a 62-7 scoreline.
Leinster's overall record in South Africa has been poor, with just two wins from nine games in the country since the arrival of the big four franchises in 2021.
The Bulls replaced Jake White with new head coach Johan Ackermann during the summer, and made a winning start to the season last weekend, albeit in a chaotic 53-40 victory against the Ospreys.
That was their seventh URC win in a row at home.
Bulls: Devon Williams; Sebastian de Klerk, David Kriel, Harold Vorster, Stravino Jacobs; Keagan Johannes, Embrose Papier; Gerhard Steenekamp, Johann Grobbelaar, Mornay Smith; Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg JF van Heerden; Marcell Coetzee (capt), Mpilo Gumede, JJ Theron
Replacements: Juann Else, Alulutho Tshakweni, Francois Kloipper, Sintu Manjezi, Nama Xaba, Zak Burger, Stedman Gans, Willie le Roux
Leinster: Jimmy O'Brien; Tommy O’Brien, Hugh Cooney, Robbie Henshaw, Andrew Osborne; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath (capt); Paddy McCarthy, Gus McCarthy, Thomas Clarkson; Brian Deeny, Ryan Baird; Alex Soroka, Will Connors, Max Deegan
Replacements: John McKee, Jack Boyle, Rabah Slimani, Diarmuid Mangan, Scott Penny, James Culhane, Fintan Gunne, Ciarán Frawley
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Munster started last season with a promising 34-21 win away to the Scarlets, and now Clayton McMillan's side will look to make it two wins from two, something they haven't done since the 2021/22 season.
The province have only lost one of their last 12 games against the Welsh regions, although that sole defeat came against this weekend's opposition at the Arms Park in April.
This game will be the only Round 2 fixture between sides who both won on the opening weekend, with Cardiff - under interim head coach Corniel van Zyl - defeating the Lions 33-20 at home.
Cardiff haven't won a URC game outside of Wales since May 2024, while their last win in Ireland was all the way back in September 2017 against Connacht.
Munster have won all 11 previous games between the sides at Thomond Park.
Munster: Ben O'Connor, Shane Daly, Dan Kelly, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Ethan Coughlan; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell (capt), Oli Jager; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Tom Ahern, Ruadhán Quinn, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Josh Wycherley, Ronan Foxe, Jack O’Donoghue, Brian Gleeson, Paddy Patterson, Tony Butler, Seán O’Brien.
Cardiff: Jacob Beetham; Josh Adams, Harri Millard, Rory Jennings, Tom Bowen; Callum Sheedy, Johan Mulder; Danny Southworth, Liam Belcher (capt), Javan Sebastian; Josh McNally, Teddy Williams; Alex Mann, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence
Replacements: Daf Hughes, Rhys Barratt, Sam Wainwright, Ben Donnell, Taine Basham, Aled Davies, Ioan Lloyd, Steff Emanuel
Referee: Griffin Colby (SARU)
