Edinburgh v Leinster
Last season's runner-up will want to bounce back after being comprehensively beaten in by Treviso last week. Murrayfield would not have been Joe Schmidt's chosen venue for redemption but they face an Edinburgh side who have lost their last seven matches.
Jonathan Sexton will finally make his first appearance of the season at the helm of a back-line which is made up entirely of Irish internationals. However, they will need that firepower as the pack is still not as strong as it could be. Leo Cullen is still one week away from a return, while Cian Healy and Jamie Heaslip take up a seat on the bench.
Warriors v Munster
Munster are also Scotland bound this weekend, and they will welcome back stalwarts David Wallace and Denis Leamy into the back row. Lifemi Mafi also makes his return, from a shoulder injury, to line out at centre. That move allow's Johne Murphy to take up one of the vacant wing slots after the names Ian Dowling and Felix Jones were added to the injury list.
If the Magners league is low in the list of Priorities for Ireland's top sides, then this week constitutes the last warm up game. Next week Munster will meet Leinster at the Aviva before the Heineken Cup begins with a double header. A trip to London Irish is first up for Munster before returning home a week later to face Toulon.
Connacht v Ulster
The clash of the weekend, and not just from an Irish standpoint. The provinces, west and North, both occupy a position in the top four after some terrific early season performances. Eric Elwood's side have surprised and impressed everybody this season, only falling to defeat to an 86th minute try in Llanelli.
Ulster meanwhile have been equally impressive, felling the Ospreys, and Edinburgh at home whilst beating Aironi on their home league debut.
Paul Marshall is able to continue at scrum-half as new signing Ruan Pienaar is injured. Niall O'Conner, who has been near flawless in piloting the red hand province has been replaced by the experienced Paddy Wallace. He will pit his wits against Ian Keatley, who is fast becoming the most exciting prospect on the island after scoring 57 points in his three games so far.
Leinster (v Edinburgh): R Kearney, S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, L Fitzgerald, J Sexton, E Reddan, H van der Merwe, R Strauss, M Ross, E O'Donoghue, D Toner, D Ryan, S Jennings (capt), S Keogh . Replacements: J Harris-Wright, C Healy, S Shawe, M Galarza, J Heaslip, I Boss, I Nacewa, E O'Malley
Munster (v Glasgow): P Warwick; D Howlett, L Mafi, S Tuitupou, J Murphy; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, D Varley, T Buckley; D O'Callaghan, D Ryan; D Wallace, N Ronan, D Leamy (capt). Replacements: S Henry, W du Preez, Darragh Hurley, M O'Driscoll, J Coughlan, P Stringer, S Deasy, D Hurley
Connacht (v Ulster): Gavin Duffy; Troy Nathan, Niva Ta'auso, Keith Matthews, Fionn Carr; Ian Keatley, Frank Murphy (capt); Brett Wilkinson, Sean Cronin, Jamie Hagan, Michael Swift, Bernie Upton, Michael McCarthy, Ray Ofisa, Mike McComish.
Replacements: Adrian Flavin, Ronan Loughney, Rob Sweeney, Andrew Browne, Shane Conneely, Cillian Willis, Miah Nikora, Darragh Fanning.
Ulster (v Connacht): Jamie Smith; Paul Emerick, Darren Cave, Ian Whitten, Andrew Trimble; Paddy Wallace, Paul Marshall; Bryan Young, Rory Best (capt), Tom Court, Tim Barker, Ryan Caldwell, Stephen Ferris, Chris Henry, Pedrie Wannenburg.
Replacements: Andi Kyriacou, BJ Botha, Paddy McAllister, Dan Tuohy, Willie Faloon, Ian Porter, Niall O'Connor, David McIlwaine.
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