Oct 18,2024
Ding ding, round 5.
The BKT United Rugby Championship has reached round five and it's been nothing if not entertaining fare so far.
Leinster, with a perfect 20 points, top the table as they head for Galway to face Connacht on Saturday night (7.35pm), while the 2023 champions Munster will look to bounce back from their derby defeat when they face Stormers earlier in the day.
Ulster, two wins and two defeats, are aiming to build on last weekend's victory over Connacht as they host the Ospreys.
Find out all you need to know about the games here.
ONLINE
We'll have live updates, live scoring, reports and reaction from all three games on rte.ie/sport.
TV
Connacht v Leinster (Saturday 7.35pm) is on TG4 and Premier Sports, while Ulster v Ospreys (Friday 7.35pm) is also live on Premier Sports.
All games are shown live on URC.tv.
WEATHER
Belfast is forecast to see light rain and a gentle breeze in about 14C for kick-off.
Sunny intervals with a fresh breeze and with humidity of 62% are expected in Cape Town for Munster's match, temperatures around 17C.
Meanwhile, later in Galway, it should remain dry for the derby, with a gentle breeze in about 10C.
Richie Murphy's Ulster welcome Ospreys to Ravenhill looking to make it three home wins from three in the championship so far.
After securing narrow wins over Glasgow and Connacht, they face a Welsh side themselves coming off the back of defeats to Munster in round three and Bulls, 29-19, last weekend.
The hosts sit in eighth place and are on a seven-game winning streak at the Kingspan.
Toby Booth’s side’s only victory over an Irish province since December 2021 was in Swansea against tonight's opponents Ulster last February.
The last four meetings between the two sides have gone the way of home field advantage whilst Ospreys, currently 13th in the standings, enjoyed their most recent victory in Belfast in February 2013.
Three starters from the win over Connacht: Iain Henderson, Stewart Moore and Ethan McIlroy are out injured but Harry Sheridan and Cormac Izuchukwu return from the Emerging Ireland tour to start, while Stuart McCloskey is back after missing two games with an injury.
Will Greatbanks makes his first start for the Ospreys with Dan Gemine and Rhys Thomas in line to make their debuts off the bench.
Ulster: Mike Lowry; Werner Kok, Ben Carson, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Aidan Morgan, John Cooney; Eric O'Sullivan, James McCormick, Tom O’Toole; Alan O’Connor (capt), Harry Sheridan; Cormac Izuchukwu, Marcus Rea, David McCann.
Replacements: Tadgh McElroy, Callum Reid, Scott Wilson, Kieran Treadwell and Matty Rea, Nathan Doak, James Humphreys, Jude Postlethwaite.
Ospreys: Jack Walsh; Dan Kasende, Evardi Boshoff, Owen Williams, Keelan Giles; Dan Edwards, Kieran Hardy; Gareth Thomas, Sam Parry, Ben Warren; Will Greatbanks, Lewis Jones; Lewis Lloyd, Justin Tipuric, Morgan Morris (capt).
Replacements: Ethan Lewis, Garyn Phillips, Math Iowerth-Scott, Rhys Thomas, Dan Gemine, Reuben Morgan-Williams, Tom Florence, Max Nagy
Referee: Andrea Piardi (FIR, 46th game)
Munster return to the scene of one of their greatest victories, the 19-14 success over the Stormers in the 2023 final.
Graham Rowntree's side have had a mixed season so far, with wins over Connacht and Ospreys offset by defeats to Zebre in round two and Leinster last weekend.
Munster, seventh in the table, are unbeaten in their last nine clashes against South African opponents since their defeat to the Lions in Johannesburg in March 2022, while they have won all four previous matches they have played against Stormers.
John Dobson’s men after bottom on five points with their only win from a three-match tour of Europe coming against Zebre. They lost 38-7 to Edinburgh last weekend.
However, they boast a mean home record and have lost only one of their last nine games in the championship: 21-27 to Ospreys in April.
Jurie Matthee is the best place-kicker in the league so far with nine from nine.
Teams: Midday
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU, 83rd game)
Connacht welcome table-toppers Leinster to the Dexcom Stadium aiming to break a seven-game losing streak against the visitors, who beat Munster in last weekend's derby.
Pete Wilkins’ side, meanwhile, came out on the wrong side of a 32-27 scoreline in Belfast against Ulster after playing for 20 minutes with 14 players.
That defeat came on the back of wins over Sharks and Scarlets and Connacht sit in fifth place on 13 points.
Leo Cullen’s men boast a perfect record of 20 points from four games with lots of room for improvement on the performance front.
They failed to score in the second half last week and registered just one try in the second half of their win over Benetton in round three.
Teams: Midday
Referee: Eoghan Cross (IRFU, 19th game)
Elsewhere, Scarlets host Bulls on Friday night, with Zebre v Lions the early kick-off on Saturday.
Later on Saturday, Sharks welcome defending champions Glasgow to Durban, Cardiff are in Edinburgh and Benetton's clash away to Dragons is the final match of the weekend.
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