United Rugby Championship Round 18: All You Need To Know
The final round of the BKT United Rugby Championship regular season is here, and there are a variety of stakes on offer for the Irish provinces.
Munster are the only team who have something major on the line.
Ian Costello's side welcome Benetton to Virgin Media Park in Cork on Friday night knowing a win will likely be needed for them to make the play-offs, and secure Champions Cup rugby for next season.
Having secured the number one seeding for the play-offs last week, Leinster welcome Glasgow Warriors to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday night for what is effectively a tune-up fight for their quarter-final in two weeks.
With Ulster and Connacht both officially out of contention for the play-offs, both sides are away from home for their final games of the season.
Ulster are in action on Friday night against an Edinburgh side who need a win to keep their own play-off hopes alive.
Connacht take on Zebre in Parma on Saturday evening, knowing a defeat would see them finish in 14th position, with their lowest win total for 15 years.
TV
Watch Leinster v Glasgow Warriors (Saturday, 7.35pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, with coverage getting under way at 7pm.
Munster v Benetton (Friday, 8pm) and Zebre Parma v Connacht (Saturday 5pm) will be live on TG4 and Premier Sports, with Edinburgh v Ulster (Friday, 7.35pm) also live on Premier Sports.
All games are shown live on URC.tv.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary of Munster v Benetton on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra from 8pm on Friday, with reaction on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
ONLINE
We'll have live score updates, reports and reaction from all games.
WEATHER
Just like last week, it's a pretty clear weather forecast for this weekend's games.
It will be a warm night in Cork for Munster v Benetton with temperatures expected to be 17C, even by 8pm when the game kicks off, with a gentle enough breeze.
Conditions will be similar across in Edinburgh, where Ulster are in action, with temperatures around 15C.
It will be even warmer in Parma on Saturday afternoon where Connacht are taking on Zebre, with a forecast of 22C, although there is a small chance of some rain on a humid day.
The sun will be shining in Dublin on Saturday evening, with clear skies and 14C forecast for Leinster v Glasgow Warriors.
Ulster are out of contention for a place in the play-offs, but they can still have a big say on the rest of the season by denying Edinburgh a place in the top half.
The Scottish side come into the game in tenth, the lowest ranked side who can still mathematically qualify for the next round.
Edinburgh have to beat Ulster to break into the play-offs, but they would also need Cardiff to lose against the Stormers in Cape Town.
The Scottish side recorded an efficient 31-21 win away to Connacht last week, but they have lost their last two home games; beaten by Bath in the Challenge Cup semi-final, and the Sharks in the URC the week before.
Ulster have won on their last six visits to Scotland to play Edinburgh in the league, but Richie Murphy's side have just two away wins all season.
Kieran Treadwell and Andrew Warwick will both play their final games for Ulster.
Edinburgh: Wes Goosen; Darcy Graham, Matt Currie, James Lang, Harry Paterson; Ross Thompson, Ali Price; Pierre Schoeman, Ewan Ashman, D'arcy Rae; Marshall Sykes, Sam Skinner; Ben Muncaster, Hamish Watson, Magnus Bradbury (capt).
Replacements: Paddy Harrison, Boan Venter, Javan Sebastian, Glen Young, Jamie Ritchie, Charlie Shiel, Ben Healy, Mark Bennett.
Ulster: Michael Lowry; Werner Kok, Jude Postlethwaite, Stuart McCloskey, Jacob Stockdale; Jack Murphy, Nathan Doak; Andrew Warwick, Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole; Kieran Treadwell, Iain Henderson (capt); Cormac Izuchukwu, Nick Timoney, David McCann.
Replacements: Tom Stewart, Callum Reid, Scott Wilson, Harry Sheridan, James McNabney, David Shanahan, Aidan Morgan, Stewart Moore.
The margin for error is tiny for both Munster and Benetton in Cork, and it's unlikely both teams can qualify for the play-offs.
The simple scenario for Munster is that a win of any kind will be enough to prolong their season and secure Champions Cup rugby, but anything less than that would leave them relying on the Stormers and Ulster to do them a favour against Cardiff and Edinburgh, respectively.
Munster have traditionally had a great record when they play in Cork, but that run came to a shuddering halt on their last visit, beaten 34-28 by Edinburgh.
That defeat could well cost them a place in the Champions Cup next season. Alternatively, the two late bonus-points they snatched could well prove crucial by the end of the weekend.
The sides drew in their last meeting in October 2023, but Munster are unbeaten in the last 15 meetings of the pair in the URC.
Benetton come into the game in great form with four wins from their last five games, the only defeat being away to the Stormers, while they had an impressive 33-7 win against Glasgow last week to keep their play-off push on track.
Munster: Thaakir Abrahams; Calvin Nash, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Diarmuid Kilgallen; Jack Crowley, Craig Casey; Michael Milne, Niall Scannell, Stephen Archer; Jean Kleyn, Tadhg Beirne (capt); Peter O'Mahony, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.
Replacements: Lee Barron, Josh Wycherley, John Ryan, Fineen Wycherley, Tom Ahern, Conor Murray, Seán O'Brien, Alex Kendellen.
Benetton: Rhyno Smith; Ignacio Mendy, Tommaso Menoncello, Ignacio Brex, Paolo Odogwu; Jacob Umaga, Alessandro Garbisi; Thomas Gallo, Siua Maile, Simone Ferrari; Scott Scrafton, Federico Ruzza (capt); Riccardo Favretto, Manuel Zuliani, Lorenzo Cannone.
Replacements: Bautista Bernasconi, Mirco Spagnolo, Tiziano Pasquali, Niccolo Cannone, Sebastian Negri, Nicolo Casilio, Tomas Albornoz, Malakai Fekitoa.
Referee: Mike Adamson (SRU).
Connacht can't finish any lower than 14th in the table, but a defeat away to a plucky Zebre side this weekend would mark their worst form in this competition for 15 years.
The province have won just five games so far in the URC, and you would have to go back as far as 2010 for the last time they had that few.
The province have lost their last five URC games, which is their worst run of form in the league since 2014. Their last win in this competition came against Benetton at the start of March.
Zebre were trounced 76-5 by Leinster in Dublin last week, but the Italians have beaten both Ulster and Munster this season.
Connacht have won the last seven meetings of the sides, dating back to 2018.
Team news: Friday 12pm.
Already qualified for the play-offs as top seed, Leinster just need to keep the engine running this weekend, while their opponents Glasgow come to Dublin looking to kick their season back into life.
For much of the season it looked like the Scottish side would take the second seed behind Leinster for the play-offs, but a poor run of form leaves them in danger of dropping back to the fourth seed, giving them an away semi-final should they get there.
Back to back defeats against Bulls and Benetton leave Franco Smith's side in third coming into the weekend, and if they drop to fourth, they will likely host the Stormers in the next round.
The Sottish side were hammered 52-0 on their last visit to Dublin just over a month ago in the Champions Cup quarter-final. That's one of three games the Warriors have played against Leinster at the Aviva, all of which they have lost.
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