Oct 26,2024
This season is flying by.
It's Round 6 of the BKT United Rugby Championship this weekend, the final round of games in this opening block before the international break, and also the one-third mark through the regular season.
All four provinces are in action on Saturday, with two at home and two away.
Leinster look to continue their dominant start to the season when they welcome the Lions to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday evening. Leo Cullen's side have won five games in a row, all with bonus-points, while their opponents are the only other team with a 100% record, although they have played a game fewer.
Connacht are also at home, with Pete Wilkins' side hosting Dragons, and are looking to get back into the winners enclosure after two defeats in a row.
Ulster are in Wales to face Cardiff, where a win would cap off a solid opening block, as they target a fourth win from six games.
Munster are the first province in action on Saturday, as they complete their tour of South Africa against a fully-loaded Sharks side in Durban.
ONLINE
We'll have live updates, live scoring, reports and reaction from all four games on rte.ie/sport.
TV
Sharks v Munster (Saturday 3pm) and Connacht v Dragons (Saturday 7.35pm) are both live on TG4 and Premier Sports, while Cardiff v Ulster (Saturday 7.35pm) is also live on Premier Sports.
All games are shown live on URC.tv.
WEATHER
Munster won't have to deal with particulary difficult heat in Durban on Saturday, with temperatures expected to be around 21C on a cloudy afternoon.
Saturday will be a mild day in Dublin for Leinster v Lions, with a forecast of 13C and light winds, although there's a chance of some rain showers.
Across in Galway it will be a bit more challenging, with tempeartures dropping to around 9C and higher winds, and rain showers likely early in the evening.
Cardiff and Ulster should have good rugby conditions at the Arms Park, with a dry night forecast, and temperatures around 11C.
After a disappointing outcome in Cape Town last week, Munster move on to Durban to face the Sharks on Saturday, and on paper their task is even bigger.
The South African side are two places below Munster in the URC table, but the Challenge Cup winners are a much different prospect when they have their Springboks in the line-up, and John Plumtree's side are loaded with Test experience this weekend.
Munster haven’t been beaten by the Sharks in the URC, winning twice at Thomond Park and claiming an impressive draw when they last visited Durban in 2022. They did, however, suffer a heavy defeat at Kings Park in the Champions Cup that season.
Graham Rowntree’s side have lost three of their last four games, with each of those coming away from home.
However, they do have a good record both in South Africa and against South African opposition, having gone nine games unbeaten against their southern hemisphere opponents in the URC prior to last week.
Sharks: Aphelele Fassi; Eduan Keyter, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi; Jordan Hendrikse, Grant Williams; Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Vincent Koch; Eben Etzebeth (capt), Emile van Heerden; James Venter, Vincent Tshituka, Siya Kolisi
Replacements: Fez Mbatha, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Ruan Dreyer, Jason Jenkins, Phepsi Buthelezi, Jaden Hendrikse, Siya Masuku, Francois Venter
Munster: Mike Haley; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Rory Scannell, Seán O'Brien; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; John Ryan, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Tom Ahern, John Hodnett, Jack O’Donoghue
Replacements: Diarmuid Barron, Kieran Ryan, Ronan Foxe, Fineen Wycherley, Ruadhán Quinn, Ethan Coughlan, Billy Burns, Alex Kendellen
Referee: Hollie Davidson (SRU)
Saturday's meeting at the Aviva Stadium brings together the only two sides with a 100% record, as leaders Leinster host the second-place Lions.
Leo Cullen's side have already opened a healthy gap on the field with five bonus-point wins from five games, but the Lions have also had an impressive start, winning their first four, and picking up two bonus-points along the way.
The Johannesburg side trounced Leinster when the sides met back in April on the Highveld and have now won three of their last four against Irish provinces.
This will be the third meeting of the sides since the start of the URC, with Leinster leading the head-to-head by two wins to one.
Leinster's only previous home defeat to a South African opponent in the URC was by a single point to the Bulls at the RDS in the 2022 semi-final.
Leinster: Hugo Keenan; Andrew Osborne, Hugh Cooney, Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe; Sam Prendergast, Luke McGrath; Michael Milne, Gus McCarthy, Rabah Slimani; RG Snyman, Ryan Baird; Max Deegan, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt)
Replacements: Stephen Smyth, Andrew Porter, Thomas Clarkson, Brian Deeny, James Culhane, Cormac Foley, Ross Byrne, Charlie Tector
Lions: Quan Horn; Richard Kriel, Henco van Wyk, Rynhardt Jonker, Edwill van der Merwe; Kade Wolhuter, Morne van den Berg; Juan Schoeman, PJ Botha, Asenathi Ntlabakanye; Ruben Schoeman, Reinhard Nothnagel; JC Pretorius, Jarod Cairns, Francke Horn (capt)
Replacements: Franco Marais, Heiko Pohlmann, RF Schoeman, Ruan Delport, Renzo du Plessis, Sanele Nohamba, Marius Louw, Erich Cronje
Referee: Craig Evans (WRU)
After a promising start, this is now a huge game for Connacht who are looking to arrest a run of consecutive defeats.
The province will be expected to deliver the goods against the Dragons, who have lost four of their opening five games so far this season, with their only win coming against fellow Welsh-strugglers Ospreys.
The Newport side have not won away from home in the URC since their visit to Scarlets in April 2022, while their last win outside of Wales in the competition came away to Connacht in October 2021.
Connacht's win against the Scarlets earlier this season was their 11th in a row against Welsh opposition, and they’ve beaten Dragons in each of their last two meetings.
Only three teams have scored more points than Connacht this season, although Pete Wilkins’ side have the leakiest defence, conceding an average of 30.6 points and four tries per game.
Connacht: Piers O'Conor; Shayne Bolton, Cathal Forde, Bundee Aki, Santiago Cordero; Jack Carty, Caolin Blade; Peter Dooley, Dylan Tierney-Martin, Finlay Bealham; Joe Joyce, Niall Murray; Cian Prendergast (capt), Sean O’Brien, Paul Boyle
Replacements: Eoin de Buitlear, Denis Buckley, Jack Aungier, Darragh Murray, Sean Jansen, Matthew Devine, Josh Ioane, Hugh Gavin
Dragons: Cai Evans; Rio Dyer, Joe Westwood, Aneurin Owen, Ewan Rosser; Angus O’Brien, Dane Blacker; Cameron Jones, Oli Burrows, Chris Coleman; Ben Carter (capt), Matthew Screech; Shane Lewis-Hughes, Harri Keddie, Aaron Wainwright
Replacements: Brodie Coghlan, Aki Seiuli, Luke Yendle, Steve Cummins, Taine Basham, Rhodri Williams, Lloyd Evans, Harry Wilson
Referee: Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
The meeting of Cardiff and Ulster brings together two teams with contrasting form lines.
After starting the season with two wins in a row, Cardiff have slipped to three consecutive defeats, the latest of which was a 27-8 loss against Edinburgh in Scotland last week.
Ulster, meanwhile, have recovered from their tough tour of South Africa to win two games in a row, and another victory on Saturday could see them climb up into the top four of the table.
Ulster have won their last six matches against Cardiff since losing 35-17 in Wales in March 2018, while Cardiff haven't won against an Irish province since defeating Munster on the opening day of the 2022/23 season.
Their last meeting, in April of this year, saw Richie Murphy’s side come out on top in controversial circumstances 19-17, and led to disciplinary action against Cardiff coach Matt Sherratt.
Cardiff Rugby: Cam Winnett; Mason Grady, Rey Lee-Lo, Ben Thomas, Iwan Stephens; Callum Sheedy, Aled Davies; Ed Byrne, Evan Lloyd, Keiron Assiratti; Josh McNally, Teddy Williams; Ben Donnell, Dan Thomas, Alun Lawrence
Replacements: Daf Hughes, Corey Domachowski, Rhys Litterick, Rory Thornon, James Botham, Thomas Young, Johan Mulder, Rory Jennings
Ulster: Ethan McIlroy; Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite, Stuart McCloskey, Mike Lowry; Aidan Morgan, Nathan Doak; Eric O'Sullivan, James McCormick, Tom O’Toole; Iain Henderson (capt); Kieran Treadwell, Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney, David McCann
Replacements: John Andrew, Andrew Warwick, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, Marcus Rea, John Cooney, Ben Carson, Ben Moxham
Referee: Sam Grove-White (SRU)
Elsewhere, Benetton host the Bulls on Friday night, with the Italian side looking for a third win in a row, while the Scrlets face Zebre in Llanelli.
The early Saturday game comes from Cape Town where the Stormers welcome defending champions Glasgow, while at 3pm the Ospreys and Edinburgh clash in Swansea.
FULL LIST OF FIXTURES
