The opening block of the BKT United Rugby Championship comes to a close this weekend with all four Irish provinces in action before taking a break until 28 November.
It's been something of a helter-skelter five rounds with shock results and cancellations adding to the intrigue.
This weekend sees unbeaten Munster host Connacht at Thomond Park, while Leinster will look for just their second win of the campaign against Zebre.
Ulster, also three from three, take on the Lions in Johannesburg. Find out all you need to know here.
TV
Munster v Connacht (Saturday, 7.45pm) and Lions v Ulster (Saturday, 12.45pm) are both live on TG4 and Premier Sports.
Leinster v Zebre (Saturday, 5.30pm) all other games are live on Premier Sports and URC.tv
RADIO
Live commentary of Munster v Connacht on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra.
ONLINE
We'll have a live blog on the interpro derby, live score updates, reports and reaction from across the league.
WEATHER
There's a chance of rain in partly cloudy conditions in Limerick for Saturday evening's kick-off with a temperature around 8-9C. Similar temperatures are forecast for Dublin in the late afternoon with rain showers expected.
Ulster, meanwhile, will have to deal with the heat in Johannesburg, with the mercury set to hit 28C in a gentle breeze.
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Richie Murphy's in-form side look to extend their winning run to four games when they take on Lions at Ellis Park.
Ulster have already accounted for Dragons, Bulls and Sharks, while their round-two clash with Edinburgh was postponed.
They’ll take on Ivan van Rooyen’s side without a quartet of internationals – Iain Henderson, Nick Timoney, Stuart McCloskey and Jacob Stockdale, who have flown to Chicago.
The hosts got their first victory of the campaign by beating Scarlets 29-18 at Ellis Park last weekend and have won nine of their last 12 home games in the URC.
The teams have met four times before with Ulster’s only defeat being 22-35 at this venue in September 2024.
Lions: Quan Horn; Eduan Keyter, Henco van Wyk, Bronson Mills, Angelo Davids; Chris Smith, Nico Steyn; SJ Kotze, Franco Marais, Asenathi Ntlabakanye; Etienne Oosthuizen, Reinhard Nothnagel; Jarod Cairns, Ruan Venter, Francke Horn (capt).
Replacements: Morne Brandon, RF Schoeman, Conraad van Vuuren, Darrien Landsberg, Renzo du Plessis, Layton Horn, Gianni Lombard, Kelly Mpeku.
Ulster: Michael Lowry; Rob Baloucoune, James Hume, Jude Postlethwaite, Zac Ward; Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak; Sam Crean, Rob Herring (capt), Tom O'Toole; Harry Sheridan, Joe Hopes; David McCann, Tom Stewart, Juarno Augustus.
Replacements: James McCormick, Callum Reid, Scott Wilson, Matthew Dalton, Bryn Ward, Conor McKee, Jake Flannery, Werner Kok.
Referee: Ben Connor (WRU)
Last weekend's home defeat to Munster means Leinster have lost three of their opening four games but are heavy favourites to continue their 19-game winning streak in this fixture.
The host have won their last 13 URC matches at Aviva Stadium since Munster beat them there in May 2023.
Leo Cullen is without 22 of his first-team squad who are in the US preparing to take on New Zealand on Saturday week.
Zebre’s record after four rounds is won two, lost two.
The Italians won twice away from home last season, at Ulster in round 10 and at Edinburgh in round 11.
Zebre’s only other previous away win at an Irish province was 19-11 against Connacht in Galway in February 2018
Leinster: Hugo McLaughlin; Joshua Kenny, Hugh Cooney, Charlie Tector, Andrew Osborne; Harry Byrne, Luke McGrath (capt); Jerry Cahir, John McKee, Rabah Slimani; Brian Deeny, Diarmuid Mangan; Max Deegan, Scott Penny, James Culhane.
Replacements: Bobby Sheehan, Alex Usanov, Andrew Sparrow, RG Snyman, Alex Soroka, Will Connors, Fintan Gunne, Caspar Gabriel.
Zebre Parma: Lorenzo Pani; Mirko Belloni, Giulio Bertaccini, Marco Zanon, Albert Einstein Batista; Giacomo Da Re, Thomas Dominguez; Muhamed Hasa, Giovanni Quattrini, Matteo Nocera; Franco Carrera, Leonard Krumov (capt); Giacomo Ferrari, Samuele Locatelli, David Odiase.
Replacements: Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, Paolo Buonfiglio, Marcos Gallorini, Giacomo Milano, Giovanni Licata, Migael Prinsloo, Martin Roger Farias, Luca Morisi.
Referee: Ian Kenny (SRU)
Undoubtedly the tie of the round, unbeaten Munster, fresh from last weekend's 31-14 win over Leinster, host Connacht in Limerick.
There’s a real feelgood factor around Thomond Park and Clayton McMillan’s side will be determined not to let that slip against a team that has only won once away from home in the URC in the last 12 months.
Munster’s only defeats to Irish provinces since New Year’s Day 2024 were both to Leinster in October and December 2024.
Connacht, meanwhile, have picked up just one win so far, with their round-two game against Scarlets also falling victim to the weather.
Stuart Lancaster’s side will justifiable feel hard done by in last weekend’s 28-27 loss to Bulls.
Josh Murphy had his red card rescinded on appeal and Bulls forward Jan-Hendrik Wessels received a nine-match suspension for his role in the incident.
The visitors have lost their last eight games against Irish teams.
Munster: Shane Daly; Diarmuid Kilgallen, Dan Kelly, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; JJ Hanrahan, Ethan Coughlan; Michael Milne, Lee Barron, John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Jack O'Donoghue (capt), John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Jeremy Loughman, Ronan Foxe, Evan O’Connell, Ruadhan Quinn, Jake O’Riordan, Tony Butler, Shay McCarthy.
Connacht: Harry West; Byron Ralston, Hugh Gavin, Cathal Forde, Finn Treacy; Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy; Jordan Duggan, Dave Heffernan, Sam Illo; Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray; Josh Murphy, Paul Boyle (capt), Sean Jansen.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Fiachna Barrett, Niall Murray, David O'Connor, Matthew Devine, Sean Naughton, Seán O’Brien.
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR)
FULL LIST OF FIXTURES, RESULTS AND STANDINGS
