The BKT United Rugby Championship may be playing in the shadows of the Guinness Six Nations at this time of year, but a win is no less valuable.
A victory in March is still worth the same four or five points, and for Connacht and Ulster in particular, every point is vital as we turn towards the meaty part of the season.
By the end of this weekend we'll be two-thirds of the way through the URC regular season, and so time is running out to get back into the mix for the play-offs and Champions Cup qualification.
Most in need of a result this weekend are Ulster. Having endured a tough start to the season, it looked like Richie Murphy’s side were turning a corner when they pulled off a big win away to Connacht just after Christmas, which left them within reach of the top half of the table midway through the season, with some favourable contests ahead.
However, a shock defeat to Zebre in Belfast was followed up by a second-half collapse away to Benetton a fortnight ago, and with just one point picked up in that period, it’s seen the province fall all the way down to 14th in the table.
While Ulster are just three places from the bottom, the inconsistency of those around them means they’re only four points back from their Welsh opponents, who currently occupy eighth in the table, and barely laid a glove on Munster in their recent 29-8 defeat at Thomond Park.
Murphy (below) has taken a gamble with some selections this week. Scrum-half Conor McKee makes his debut, while Jack Murphy is still an inexperienced out-half, although he’s put an experienced three-quarter line behind them with Stuart McCloskey, James Hume, Stuart McCloskey, Mike Lowry and Stewart Moore completing the backline.
And with another winnable game against the Dragons on the horizon, Murphy is calling for his side to stay calm as they look to get their season back on track.
"We're in a very difficult position. Some of that is to do with confidence in the squad and it's my job to try and build that back up.
"With that in mind we have got to be careful that we don't just concentrate on the win. We've got to concentrate on the process and how we go about making the win - nailing our set-piece, being a bit more disciplined than we have.
"If we can get those little bits right that gets us on the front foot and we know when we get the ball on the front foot we can play rugby."
The mood is much different for Leinster, who are looking for a 16th win from 16 games in all competitions this season, with Cardiff the latest to take a shot at the runaway league leaders.
Leo Cullen’s side were taken all the way by the Ospreys last time out, but they do remain 10 points clear at the top of the table.
As usual, the province’s inventory is low at this time of the year with so many players being kept back in the Irish camp, but Jack Boyle, Diarmuid Mangan and Jimmy O’Brien have been released back to play this week, while Max Deegan, Will Connors, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne and Rabah Slimani all bring experience to the starting team. RG Snyman is waiting in reserve on the bench.
As dominant as Leinster have been this season, the games they will ultimately be judged on are yet to come, with the province looking to end a run of three years in a row without a trophy.
"You want to be seen as a team that’s going to be winning Champions Cups, URCs every year and obviously with that comes pressure, but we try not to let it overcome us at all.
"It's not something we’ve talked about at all - the finals, or anything like that. It’s always been, as cliched as it is, the next game or next block of games.
"At the moment we’re focusing this week on Cardiff, and then we have an eye towards South Africa as well."
This afternoon's meeting with Cardiff will be a special one for the Soroka family. With a number of looseheads unavailable to the province, veteran Clontarf prop Ivan Soroka has been called up and is set to make his debut off the bench, while younger brother Alex is in the starting team.
Like Ulster, time is running out for Connacht if they’re to make a run for the play-offs in the final third of the season.
While they were pitch-perfect in the Challenge Cup, the province have been wildly inconsistent in the URC, and are 11th in the table, albeit only one win back from the play-offs.
As entertaining as ever with the ball in hand, defensively Pete Wilkins’s side have been too easy to break down, and while they did arrest a run of four straight league defeats in a row last time out against Cardiff, they needed a late Dylan Tierney-Martin try to secure the win, which thankfully came with a bonus-point.
This evening they host a Benetton side who beat Ulster last time out, and while the Italians haven’t won in Galway since 2011, they did beat Connacht twice last season in Italy, the second of those being a resounding Challenge Cup quarter-final win.
Ben Murphy’s injury absence is a real blow for the province, but Caolin Blade does return from Irish camp to start, as does captain Cian Prendergast, who missed out on what was due to be his fifth Test cap last week due to illness.
