Dec 07,2024
We're just one week out of the Autumn Nations Series and straight into the opening round of European action.
Leinster, beaten finalists in the last three seasons, 1999 winners Ulster and 2006 and 2008 champions Munster are competing in the Champions Cup, while Connacht set their sights on the Challenge Cup title.
Munster, under interim head coach Ian Costello, are first up as they welcome struggling French outfit Stade Francais to Thomond Park.
Richie Murphy's Ulster face the toughest assignment of the weekend as they take on Toulouse on the road, while Leinster's nearly men face a trip to Ashton Gate to take on Bristol Bears, with both teams are at the top of their domestic leagues.
Pete Wilkins and Connacht are at home to Zebre in the Challenge Cup on Saturday evening.
Find out all you need to know about the weekend's games here.
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We'll have live updates, live scoring, reports and reaction from all three games on rte.ie/sport.
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While the worst of Storm Darragh is expected to have passed by early Saturday afternoon, there will still be some very windy conditions in Limerick on Saturday evening where Munster host Stade Francais and in Galway for Connacht v Zebre Parma, with gusts of up to 60km/hr. However, it's expected to be a dry evening, with temperatures around 6C.
Conditions are expected to be quite dreary in Toulouse on Sunday, where Ulster face the defending champions, with rain likely and temperatures around 8C.
Meanwhile in Bristol, Leinster and the Bears will be dealing with strong wind and temperatures around 6C, although any rain is likely to be a small shower.
Saturday's visit of Stade Francais to Thomond Park is will be Munster's 201st in the history of the Champions Cup, a number only Toulouse and Leinster can better.
This will be the seventh meeting of the sides, and the first since January 2016 when Munster were 26-13 winners in dreadful weather conditions at Thomond Park.
Under interim head coach Ian Costello, the province will be hopeful of making a better start than they did last season in Europe, when they had a frustrating 13-13 draw with Bayonne, before losing to Northampton Saints in their second home game later in the campaign.
Stade Francais, beaten finalists in 201 and 2005 have only featured sporadically in the competition since 2010, and lost all four pool games last season, including a 43-7 defeat to Leinster in Dublin.
The Parisians have had a difficult start to the season in the Top14, with four wins from their opening 11 games.
Munster: Shane Daly; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Thaakir Abrahams; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Dian Bleuler, Diarmuid Barron (capt), John Ryan; Evan O'Connell, Fineen Wycherley; Peter O'Mahony, Alex Kendellen, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Niall Scannell, Kieran Ryan, Stephen Archer, Tadhg Beirne, John Hodnett, Paddy Patterson, Billy Burns, Jack O’Donoghue.
Stade Francais: Joe Jonas; Charles Laloi, Joe Marchant, Pierre Boudehent, Samuel Ezeala; Zack Henry, Thibaut Motassi; Clement Castets, Lucas Peyresblanques, Francisco Gomez Kodela; Pierre-Henri Azagoh, Baptiste Pesenti; Pierre Huguet, Ryan Chapuis (capt), Yoan Tanga
Replacements: Luka Petriashvili, Moses Alo-Emile, Paul Alo-Emile, Setareki Turagacoke, Andy Timo, Juan Martin Scelzo, Louis Foursans-Bourdette, Louis Carbonel
Referee: Luke Pearce (RFU)
Ulster supporters must be sick of the sight of Toulouse and Antoine Dupont.
Sunday's meeting at Stade Ernest Wallon will be the sixth meeting of these two in the last six seasons, with all but one of those games going the way of the French side.
In that time, Ulster's only win against the French giants came in the first leg of their last-16 clash in 2021/22, only to lose the tie on aggregate a week later.
This will be the 16th meeting overall of the teams, making it one of the most common pairings in the 30-year history of the tournament, and while Toulouse have dominated recent history, it's a well balanced rivalry overall, with seven wins for the French side, six for Ulster, and one draw - a 35-35 thriller during the 2000/01 season.
Ulster come into the game off the back of consecutive defeats in the URC, the latest of which was a 27-20 loss against Leinster last Friday.
Toulouse: Thomas Ramos; Ange Capuozzo, Pierre-Louis Barassi, Santiago Chocobares, Matthis Lebel; Romain Ntamack, Antoine Dupont (capt); David Ainu'u, Peato Mauvaka, Dorian Aldegheri; Thibaud Flament, Emmanuel Meafou; Jack Willis, Leo Banos, Alexandre Roumat
Replacements: Julien Marchand, Rodrigue Neti, Joel Merkler, Joshua Brennan, Theo Ntamack, Paul Graou, Paul Costes, Juan-Cruz Mallia
Ulster: Stewart Moore; Werner Kok, Ben Carson, Jude Postlethwaite, Michael Lowry; Aidan Morgan, Nathan Doak; Eric O'Sullivan, James McCormick, Scott Wilson; Alan O'Connor (capt), Kieran Treadwell; James McNabney, Nick Timoney, David McCann.
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Andrew Warwick, Corrie Barrett, Harry Sheridan, Marcus Rea, John Cooney, James Humphreys, Ben Moxham.
Referee: Adam Leal (RFU)
A first ever meeting of Leinster and the Bears, and the early season statistics suggest this has the makings of a thrilling game. Joint top of the Premiership hosts top of the URC.
Pat Lam's Bristol have been the great entertainers in the Premiership - scoring a remarkable 255 points and 36 tries in just seven games, while they carry more and kick less than any other team in Europe's top three leagues.
Leinster are pool stage masters by now though, and boast an incredible record against Premiership sides.
They've won their last 12 in a row against English opposition, and have won their last nine games away to Premiership sides.
They've actually only lost twice to English teams in this competition since January 2016, with both of those defeats coming against Saracens in the 2020 quarter-final at Aviva Stadium, and the 2019 final on neutral soil in Newcastle.
The last Premiership side to beat Leinster in this competition that wasn't Saracens? Wasps, who hammered the province 51-10 in January 2016, in Leo Cullen's first season in charge.
Leinster: Rich Lane; Jack Bates, Benhard Janse van Rensburg, Kalaveti Ravouvou, Gabriel Ibitoye; AJ MacGinty, Harry Randall; Ellis Genge, Harry Thacker, Max Lahiff; James Dun, Joe Owen; Santiago Grondona, Fitz Harding (capt), Bill Mata
Replacements: Gabriel Oghre, Jake Woolmore, Lovejoy Chawatama, Steven Luatua, Benjamin Grondona, Kieran Marmion, Joe Jenkins, Benjamin Elizalde
Leinster: Ciaran Frawley; Jordan Larmour, Garry Ringrose, Robbie Henshaw, Jimmy O'Brien; Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park; Jack Boyle, Ronan Kelleher, Rabah Slimani; Joe McCarthy, James Ryan; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Jack Conan (capt)
Replacements: Gus McCarthy, Andrew Porter, Tom Clarkson, RG Snyman, Caelan Doris, Luke McGrath, Ross Byrne, Jordie Barrett
Referee: Pierre Brousset (FFR)
With hopes of getting back into the Champions Cup net season, Connacht's main focus appears to be on the URC, particularly in these opening rounds of the Challenge Cup.
Pete Wilkins is resting his frontline internationals Finlay Bealham, Bundee Aki, Mack Hansen and Cian Prendergast, with one eye on their Christmas Interpros against Leinster and Ulster.
Even with a rotted side Connacht will be expected to do the job against the Italians, particularly at home.
They've put more than 50 points on Zebre in each of their last two meetings, and have won six in a row against the Parma club.
In total, Zebre have just three wins out of 24 previous games against Connacht.
Connacht: Shane Jennings; Chay Mullins, David Hawkshaw, Cathal Forde, Santiago Cordero; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Jordan Duggan, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Jack Aungier; Darragh Murray, Oisin Dowling; Josh Murphy, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Paul Boyle (capt)
Replacements: Eoin de Buitlear, Temi Lasisi, Fiachna Barrett, David O'Connor, Oisin McCormack, Matthew Devine, Sean Naughton, Byron Ralston
Zebre Parma: Giovanni Montemauri; Filippo Bozzoni, Filippo Drago, Enrico Lucchin, Simone Gesi; Giacomo da Re, Thomas Dominguez; Paolo Buonfiglio, Luca Bigi (capt), Muhamed Hasa; Matteo Canali, Leonardo Krumov; Giacomo Milano, Bautista Stavile Bravin, Giacomo Ferrari
Replacements: Giampietro Ribaldi, Luca Rizzoli, Matteo Nocera, Rusiate Nasove, Luca Andreani, Alessandro Fusco, Jacopo Bianchi, Scott Gregory
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU)
Elsewhere, the pick of the rest of the games sees Ronan O'Gara's 2022 and 2023 champions La Rochelle at Bath on Friday night, while Joey Carbery's Bordeaux visit Leicester in the early game on Sunday.
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