We're getting closer to the business end of the BKT United Rugby Championship, with just three more regular rounds to play after this weekend's action.
Injury-hit Ulster welcome a Benetton side to Belfast who have their own sights set on making the top four and guaranteed home advantage in the quarter-finals.
Munster and Leinster conclude their respective South African trips, with Graham Rowntree's side in third and looking to keep the pressure on their Irish rivals and Glasgow.
They face a Lions side that ripped to shreds table toppers Leinster last weekend, condemning Leo Cullen's side to just their third defeat in 20 outings in all competitions.
Connacht are the final Irish representative in action when they travel to Rodney Parade on Saturday night where a win would push them back into the play-off picture, with Pete Wilkins' side currently one spot outside of that in ninth.
ONLINE
We'll have live scoring as well as reports and reaction from the games.
TV
Lions v Munster and Stormers v Leinster are both live on TG4.
All games are also shown live on URC.tv.
WEATHER
There should be good conditions for rugby in Belfast on Friday night, with Ulster hosting Benetton. The day will bring some bright or sunny spells mixed with scattered showers, with temperatures reaching a high of 10 degrees.
Both Leinster and Munster will be operating in a warmer South African climate, with temperatures around the 20C mark by kick-off in both Lions v Munster and Stormers v Leinster.
It is likely to be soft underfoot in Newport when Connacht travel to take on the Dragons on Saturday evening, though the scattered showers are expected only during the day.
Interim head coach Richie Murphy enjoyed his first win in charge of the province in last week's narrow win over Cardiff following two defeats in South Africa.
Their record since the turn of the year (WLWLLW) indicates why they are among a cluster of teams mid-pack looking to break clear. Benetton arrive in Belfast in fifth place in the standings, but just three points separates them and Ulster, who occupy 10th position.
As inconsistent as Ulster have been, their home form in the URC has been solid, suffering just one defeat, a 24-27 reversal to Edinburgh.
Murphy has to contend with a whole host of injuries, with a rather callow side named to take on the Italian outfit looking for just a second win on Irish soil in the competition since 2011, a memorable victory at the RDS in 2018.
Benetton’s form took a nosedive after Christmas, losing three on the spin before arresting that form with home wins over Connacht and Dragons.
A win at Kingspan Stadium would close the gap to fourth-place Bulls, temporarily at least, with only three more rounds to play.
Ulster: Mike Lowry; Rob Baloucoune, Will Addison, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Billy Burns, John Cooney; Eric O'Sullivan, Tom Stewart, Scott Wilson; Harry Sheridan, Alan O'Connor (capt); Dave Ewers, Reuben Crothers, David McCann
Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, James French, Cormac Izuchukwu, Greg Jones, Dave Shanahan, Luke Marshall, Ethan McIlroy
Benetton: Jacob Umaga; Leonardo Marin, Tommaso Menoncello, Marco Zanon, Rhyno Smith; Tomas Albornoz, Andy Uren; Thomas Gallo, Giacomo Nicotera, Simione Ferrari; Scott Scrafton, Edoardo Iachizzi; Alessandro Izekor, Michele Lamaro (Capt), Lorenzo Cannone
Replacements: Gianmarco Lucchesi, Ivan Nemer, Tiziano Pasquali, Niccolò Cannone, Riccardo Favretto, Toa Halafihi, Alessandro Garbisi, Filippo Drago
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
A W7 L7 record suggests a team struggling for consistency, yet the Lions served up barnstorming performance last time out to thrash high-flying Leinster at Emirates Airline Park.
While Leo Cullen made 13 changes following the defeat of Champions Cup holders La Rochelle the previous week, it was still an impressive display from the hosts who scored their first try within a minute.
They welcome a Munster side on the back of an absorbing win over the Bulls at Loftus Versfeld, their fifth successive win in the competition.
That moved the visitors into third in the table and well-placed for a home quarter-final.
Munster's only previous visit to Emirates Airline Park was a narrow defeat in March 2022, but since then they are unbeaten in eight outings against South African opposition.
Munster may have enjoyed a numerical advantage after Johan Goosen was sent off in the 54th minute, but the way they closed out the game will have been hugely pleasing for a team that struggled throughout the Champions Cup from a game management perspective.
Lions: Jordan Hendrikse; Richard Kriel, Erich Cronje, Marius Louw (capt), Edwill van der Merwe; Sanele Nohamba, Morne van den Berg; Morgan Naude, Jaco Visagie, Ruan Dreyer; Willem Alberts, Ruan Delport; JC Pretorius, Emmanuel Tshituka, Francke Horn.
Replacements: PJ Botha, JP Smith, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Reinhard Nothnagel, Ruan Venter, Sibusiso Sangweni, Nico Steyn, Gianni Lombard.
Munster: Simon Zebo; Calvin Nash, Antoine Frisch, Seán O'Brien, Shane Daly; Jack Crowley, Conor Murray; Jeremy Loughman, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; RG Snyman, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O'Mahony, Alex Kendellen, Jack O'Donoghue.
Replacements: Eoghan Clarke, Josh Wycherley, Oli Jager, Tom Ahern, Gavin Coombes, Craig Casey, Joey Carbery, Mike Haley.
Leinster will hope to avoid a second successive defeat after last week's chastening loss to the Lions, though their record on South African soil illustrates that Leo Cullen has afforded more gametime throughout the squad.
Last week he made 13 changes in personnel following the Champions Cup exertions the previous week, and in five visits to South Africa since 2018, their only win was a 39-36 success over the Lions last year.
A point clear of Glasgow, they look certain to take a home quarter-final spot, while sixth-place Stormers have plenty of company around them for a top-8 position.
They too enter the game on the back of a defeat after going down at home to Ospreys.
The two previous encounters suggests another close contest; Leinster taking a losing bonus point in Cape Town in 2022 before the sides played out a thrilling draw last year in the RDS where the hosts rallied from being 17-0 down to extend their unbeaten run at the time to 20 games.
Stormers: Warrick Gelant; Suleiman Hartzenberg, Dan du Plessis, Damian Willemse, Ben Loader; Manie Libbok, Herschel Jantjies; Brok Harris, Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouche; Salmaan Moerat (capt), Ruben van Heerden; Marcel Theunissen, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos.
Replacements : Andre-Hugo Venter, Kwenzo Blose, Frans Malherbe, Connor Evans, Willie Engelbrecht, Hacjivah Dayimani, Stefan Ungerer, Wandisile Simelane.
Leinster: Henry McErlean; Liam Turner, Ben Brownlee, Charlie Ngatai, Rob Russell; Sam Prendergast, Cormac Foley; Michael Milne, John McKee, Michael Ala'alatoa; Brian Deeny, Jason Jenkins; Rhys Ruddock, Scott Penny (capt), Max Deegan.
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Ed Byrne, Thomas Clarkson, Conor O’Tighearnaigh, Diarmuid Mangan, Fintan Gunne, Charlie Tector, Martin Moloney.
With Dragons only off bottom position on points difference, Connacht travel to Rodney Parade with realistic ambitions of a victory that could push them back inside the play-off picture.
The struggling Welsh outfit have just one win in their last five, while Connacht have tasted defeat once in their last four visits to Rodney Parade. Indeed Dragon's successful visit to the Sportsground in 2021 is their only win against the Irish province since 2017.
A 54-16 win at Zebre last weekend was just the result Pete Wilkins was looking for, though the main takeaway was the performance of scrum-half Matthew Devine on his first start. The 22-year-old academy graduate picked off two tries in a stellar performance.
The province was boosted this week with the news that wings Byron Ralston and Andrew Smith have agreed new contracts, while second row Oisin Dowling has signed a contract extension.
Level on points with eighth-place Edinburgh, a win would be viewed as vital given they conclude the regular season with games against Munster (away), Stormers (home) and Leinster (away).
Dragons: Jordan Williams; Rio Dyer, Steff Hughes (capt), Aneurin Owen, Ewan Rosser; Cai Evans, Rhodri Williams; Rhodri Jones, Elliot Dee, Chris Coleman; Ben Carter, Matthew Screech; Harri Keddie, Taine Basham, Aaron Wainwright.
Replacements : James Benjamin, Rodrigo Martinez, Luke Yendle, George Nott, Sean Lonsdale, Che Hope, Will Reed, Joe Westwood.
Connacht: Tiernan O'Halloran; Shane Jennings, Tom Farrell, Bundee Aki, John Porch; JJ Hanrahan, Matthew Devine; Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan (capt), Finlay Bealham; Joe Joyce, Gavin Thornbury; Shamus Hurley-Langton, Conor Oliver, Cian Prendergast.
Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Sam Illo, Oisín Dowling, Jarrad Butler, Caolin Blade, Cathal Forde, Paul Boyle.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
