There are two blockbuster matches in Ireland in Round 14 which could determine the teams who will contest the Guinness PRO14 final.
A mouth-watering weekend gets underway on Friday night when Conference B leaders Munster host nearest rivals Connacht knowing a win should book their place in the end-of-season showpiece.
There is another thriller in Conference A on Saturday evening when second-placed Ulster have a home advantage as they take on defending champions Leinster, who are currently six points clear at the summit and could also earn a final berth with a bonus-point win, depending on any bonus points collected by their hosts.
Ospreys host Dragons at the same time in an all-Welsh clash while the early game on Saturday sees Zebre take on Glasgow Warriors at home and Benetton go to Edinburgh on Sunday.
There are five matches scheduled this weekend, with one of the Round 14 fixtures having already taken place in January when Cardiff Blues enjoyed a 13-10 victory at Scarlets.
Friday - Munster v Connacht
Connacht goes into this crucial Conference B showdown on the back of three straight victories, but they will need to improve after being given an almighty scare by Benetton last week when Bundee Aki’s late try avoided a shock defeat.
Munster have also won three in a row to leave them on the brink of booking their place in the final and have recent history on their side having won the last six meetings with Connacht.
They were 20-11 winners in Cardiff last weekend when Billy Holland came off the bench to become their second most-capped player, with the 35-year-old announcing on Tuesday he will retire at the end of the season.
Saturday – Zebre v Glasgow Warriors
The match in Parma could prove important in terms of the final standings in Conference A with fourth-placed Zebre just a point above the Warriors has played a game more.
Zebre climbed off the bottom and up to two places thanks to a 26-15 victory over Dragons, with back-rowers Renato Giammarioli and Lorenzo Masselli both crossing for tries while Paolo Pescetto kicked 13 points.
Glasgow went down 40-21 at Leinster, not helped by having Adam Hastings sent off, but they have won all 16 previous meetings with Zebre and their last four against Italian opposition.
Saturday – Ospreys v Dragons
Dragons are still without a win in 2021 and victory in an all-Welsh affair would be a good time to stop a poor run of form.
The defeat at the hands of Zebre last week was their sixth in a row and they were hampered by first-half yellow cards shown to Ben Fry and Ross Moriarty, although they at least managed two tries from Jonah Holmes after the break.
Ospreys were unable to build on a first-minute try from Keeran Giles as they lost 21-7 against Ulster so will be looking to get back to winning ways after four straight victories prior to that.
Saturday – Ulster v Leinster
Leinster will have one foot in the final if they can come out on top in this crunch clash.
The leaders remained firmly in control of Conference A, last weekend as they secured a 40-21 bonus-point win at home to Glasgow while Ulster was unable to pick up the extra point against the Ospreys.
Leinster came out on top 24-12 when these teams met at the RDS Arena in January, scoring all four tries in the match, but Ulster has won their last 17 PRO14 fixtures at the Kingspan Stadium including a 14-13 win on Leinster’s last visit in April 2019.
Sunday – Edinburgh v Benetton
Conference B’s bottom two teams meet in the Scottish capital and Benetton will feel this is a good chance to pick up a first win of the season at the 13th time of asking.
Edoardo Padovani’s late penalty looked to have finally broken their duck against Connacht last Friday but they could not hold on as a last-gasp try condemned Benetton to a cruel 19-17 defeat.
Edinburgh’s last win was against Italian opposition, having beaten Zebre 26-10 in January, but they will hope it is third time lucky on home soil after suffering back-to-back defeats against Munster and Scarlets since their Italy trip.