The BKT United Rugby Championship returns with the battle for play-off places looking like they will go down to the wire.
At the top end, Leinster and Munster have their sights set on securing top-four seedings to gain home advantage for the knock-out phases, while Connacht and Ulster have battles on their hands to make the top eight.
The game of the weekend from an Irish point of view is the meeting of Munster and Connacht in Thomond Park on Saturday evening.
Leinster welcome Ospreys to the RDS on Saturday night, while Ulster are the first of the Irish sides in action as they visit Scarlets earlier that day.
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Ulster are set to kick off proceedings in sunny conditions in Llanelli with temperatures around 20C and a moderate breeze.
Limerick, they say, will be partly cloudy in 22C, while Dublin is set for sunshine on Saturday afternoon with temperatures down at about 15C.
Ulster, off the back of two home wins, against Benetton and Cardiff, visit Wales looking to make it three in a row for the first time in 12 months.
They have only won twice on the road this season but Richie Murphy's men, seventh in the table, are coming up against a Welsh region with only one victory to their name since round seven, that coming against Benetton in March.
Dwayne Peel's side have not beaten an Irish club in their last 11 meetings, while Ulster are on a four-game winning streak against the Llanelli side.
The visitors will be without James Hume and the departing Steven Kitshoff, while Jacob Stockdale and Rob Herring are available.
Teams: Friday midday
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR, 31st game)
Munster are on a six-game winning streak and have not lost since Connacht beat them, 22-9, in Galway on New Year's Day.
Graham Rowntree's side, in third, are well placed to book a home quarter-final but feel that a top-two finish is within their grasp.
They have lost just once at home in the championship this campaign: 9-3 to Leinster at Thomond Park on 26 December but have lost all four matches they have played against Irish provinces this season.
Prop John Ryan is back after a three-match suspension.
This is the first of two interpro derbies for Connacht, sixth in the standings, in their run-in, with Leinster away awaiting in the final round.
The Westerners' only victory away from home against an Irish side since May 2021 was 15-10 at Ulster in last season’s quarter final.
JJ Hanrahan will miss the rest of the season with an ACL injury but Ireland out-half Jack Carty is back after a hamstring issue.
Teams: Friday midday
Referee: Andy Brace (IRFU, 95th game)
After the high of reaching the Investec Champions Cup final last weekend, Leinster return to the URC beat aiming to regain top spot.
Leo Cullen's side sit second in the table, four points behind the in-form Glasgow Warriors.
They come into this game off the back of two poor defeats in South Africa with what was largely a second-string outfit. You have to go back to 2008 for the last time they lost three in a row in the championship.
Leinster's only loss at the RDS since the 2022 semi-final was by a single point to Ulster on New Year's Day.
Ospreys are in the last-chance saloon, sitting four points outside the top eight, and needing to win to keep in touch.
Toby Booth's side have lost on their last six visits to Irish provinces, while the hosts' only defeat in their last seven encounters with Ospreys was 19-24 at the RDS in March 2021.
Teams: Friday midday
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU, 43rd game)
Full list of fixtures, results and standings here.
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