United Rugby Championship Round 18: All you need to know

It's the final round of the United Rugby Championship regular season with three of the four Irish provinces already guaranteed to progress.

It's all about seedings now with everyone except Leinster, already guaranteed the top spot, playing for places and home advantage in the knock-out phases.

TV

Ulster v Cell C Sharks (Friday 7.35pm) and Leinster v Munster (Saturday 7.15pm) are live on TG4 and Premier Sports, while Connacht v Zebre (Saturday 5pm) is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.

RADIO

RTÉ Radio 1 will have live commentary on Leinster v Munster.

ONLINE

RTE.ie/sport will have live scoring and blogs across the weekend with match reports and reaction from the grounds. All games are live on URC TV.

WEATHER

Belfast is forecast to see light rain showers in about 13C, while Galway on Saturday afternoon will be overcast, with temperatures around 14C. Dublin, later on Saturday evening, expects cloudy conditions in 15C.

Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Ulster sit fifth in the table and take on third-placed Sharks, who are one point further ahead.

A win will guarantee a home quarter-final, while the number two ranking for a home semi-final is possible and would most likely require a victory for Ulster and losses for Munster and Stormers who lead in many of the tie-breakers.

Dan McFarland's men suffered back to back home losses in defeats to Toulouse and Munster, while they bounced back somewhat with a hard-fought 16-10 victory in Edinburgh the last time out.

The Sharks, who boast Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Bongi Mbonambi, Thomas du Toit and Siya Kolisi among their number, have won their last three games, including matches with Leinster and Connacht.

It's a first ever