United Rugby Championship R12: All you need to know

The second of the Six Nations break weekends, and a chance to take stock in the BKT United Rugby Championship as we reach two-thirds of the way through the regular season.

In a rarity, all four Irish provinces have home advantage this weekend, with Leinster and Munster looking to solidify their play-off spots, while Connacht and Ulster aim to stay in touch with the top half of the table.

Munster kick things off at home to Edinburgh on Friday night, with the Scottish side looking to inflict a very rare URC defeat on the province in Cork.

On Saturday, Leinster host Cardiff at 3pm at Aviva Stadium, with Leo Cullen's side still unbeaten through 15 games this season in all competitions.

After back-to-back URC defeats, Ulster are in must-win territory as they welcome the Scarlets to Belfast at 5.15, while Connacht can close in on the top half of the table if they get the better of Benetton in Galway at 7.35pm.

TV

Leinster v Cardiff (3pm) and Ulster v Scarlets (5.15pm) live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on Saturday.

TG4 and Premier Sports will show live coverage of Munster v Edinburgh (Friday, 7.35pm) and Connacht v Benetton (Saturday, 7.35pm) while all games are shown live on URC.tv.

ONLINE

We'll have live scores updates, reports and reaction from from all four games.

WEATHER

Conditions look favourable for all four provinces this weekend.

On Friday night in Cork, Munster v Edinburgh is forecast to have a dry and cold night, around 6C, with moderate winds.

Conditions in Dublin, Belfast and Galway are expected to be similar on Saturday, with the afternoon kick-off for Leinster v Cardiff around 8C, and colder for Ulster and Connacht later in the evening.

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