United Rugby Championship quarter-finals: All you need to know

The final stretch of the domestic season begins this weekend as the BKT URC knockout phase kicks off.

Three of the four Irish provinces have made the post-season with champions Munster and Leinster starting with home quarter-finals.

Ospreys visit Thomond Park on Friday night looking to upset the odds after jumping from 11th to eighth on the final day to reach this stage.

Ulster, meanwhile, are Leo Cullen's side’s opponents at Lansdowne Road, a venue they have not beaten Leinster at since 1989.

ONLINE

We'll have live blogs and live scoring as well as reports and reaction from the games.

TV

You can see live coverage of Munster v Ospreys from 7pm on Friday on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player (kick-off 7.35pm).

Leinster v Ulster (Saturday, 5pm) is live on TG4 and Premier Sports

All games are also shown live on URC.tv.

RADIO

Listen to live commentary of Munster v Ospreys on RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, while there will also be updates from Leinster v Ulster on RTÉ Radio 1.

WEATHER

Limerick is set for overcast conditions in about 12C, while the game in Dublin on Saturday should be played out under clear sunny skies in about 18C.

Graham Rowntree’s side come into the play-offs on the back of nine successive league wins, some more impressive than others.

But the numbers don’t lie and Munster are on the cusp of a first run of 10 successive URC victories since the winning campaign of 2010/11.

The host’s only defeat in their last 14 fixtures with Ospreys in all competitions was 10-18 at Swansea.com Stadium in October 2021, while the Welsh side's last win at Thomond came in September 2014.

Toby Booth’s men have made the play-offs for the first time since they were semi-finalists in 2016/17 but they have won just one of their last nine fixtures against Irish