Coming in the wake of a vintage Six Nations, last weekend seemed a little anticlimactic, in the United Rugby Championship (URC) anyway, if not so much the All-Ireland League (AIL).
Coming amid Ireland’s World Cup football qualifier(s), next weekend’s URC matches are unlikely to dominate the sporting firmament either, yet these will heavily affect the finale to all four provincial seasons.
The quartet sit within seven points and six places of each other in the URC table: with Ulster are third on 42 points; Leinster fourth on 41; Munster sixth on 39; and Connacht ninth on 35 before next weekend’s 14th round.
Leinster’s outhalf dilemma
There follows a two-week break for “European” rugby, when Leinster are the only Irish side in the Champions Cup and the other three compete in the Challenge Cup. The final four URC rounds sandwich “European” semi-final weekend, before finals weekend in Bilbao, and then the URC knock-out run-in.
For all four provinces, their seasons have still to be defined. The stakes are high, be it silverware on two fronts or qualification for the quarter-finals and beyond in the URC and hence for next season’s Champions Cup.
Leinster
Glasgow Warriors’ Adam Hastings and Stafford McDowall celebrate victory over Leinster on Saturday. Photograph: Craig Watson/INPHO
In the fallout of their Champions Cup semi-final defeat at home to Northampton, it’s worth reminding ourselves that Leinster did actually win the URC with a convincing 32-7 win over the Bulls in Croke Park last June.
What’s more they lost only two games in 20 matches en route to the final and accumulated 76 points, just one point less than two seasons ago, when also finishing first, as they’ve done three times in four years.
But, like two seasons ago when consigned to a semi-final loss away to the Bulls, Leinster have already suffered five defeats. They are capable of winning their last five against the Scarlets, Ulster, Benetton, Lions and Ospreys, although the trek to Belfast looks huge. But this post-Lions season has been something of a trudge after grim defeats away to Cardiff and Glasgow, where Adam Hastings’s goading and the all-in scuffle will further sour the rivalry.
In the Champions Cup, Leinster host Edinburgh on Easter Sunday with the prize of a home quarter-final against Harlequins or Sale six days later. But they are not attacking as fluently as of recent yore, nor imposing their defence as previously under Jacques Nienaber.
Having beaten Glasgow 52-0 and 37-19 in the knock-out stages at the Aviva last season, it could be that the Warriors will host Leinster in two semi-finals in Murrayfield and Scotstoun. What’s that they say familiarity breeds?
Ulster 
Ulster head coach Richie Murphy is in his second full season. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/INPHO
Although last Friday’s first home defeat at the hands of Connacht was a setback, this has still been a fine campaign so far in Richie Murphy’s second full season at the helm. Four points off the Stormers in second, it will nag at him and his side that they’ve let big leads slip away to Cardiff and Ospreys in either competition. Otherwise, they could be even better placed.
Perhaps a segue into the Challenge Cup was a blessing, for it meant hosting understrength Racing 92 and Stade Francais teams as against meeting last season’s powerhouses Toulouse and Bordeaux Bègles at full throttle.
Murphy’s old Irish under-20s coaching ticket has been reunited, with Mark Sexton sharpening the attack. There’s been more passing, offloading and width, making them one of the season’s best watches, while reviving several careers and launching others.
Now Zebre away this Friday is a must-win ahead of Leinster (home), Munster (away), Stormers (home) and Glasgow (away). In the Challenge Cup, they’ve earned a home Round of 16 tie against the Ospreys, with the carrot of a home quarter-final against Newcastle or La Rochelle and a potential home semi-final, where they are in the same half as Munster.
Munster
Munster’s Shane Daly, Tom Farrell and Jack O’Donoghue celebrate a try against Leinster in the URC last October. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/INPHO
Munster were far from perfect in winning their first five URC games under Clayton McMillan, featuring home wins over Cardiff, Edinburgh and Connacht by three points or less. The 31-14 win over Leinster at Croke Park, when at full-strength and carrying out the game plan to precision, looks increasingly like an outlier, and they’ve since slumped to sixth and been knocked out of the Champions Cup.
Admittedly, Munster drew the short straw in travelling to South Africa in the aftermath of the Six Nations, which was compounded by rescheduled flights and a longer route to the heat and humidity of Durban for last Saturday’s 45-0 loss to the Sharks.
But they’ve won only two of their last eight matches, at home to the Dragons (22-20) and Zebre (21-7, without a bonus point). They have the least potent attack of the Irish quartet and lack depth.
Jeremy Loughman, Craig Casey and Jack Crowley have joined up with the squad in Cape Town before they fly to Pretoria on Friday for Saturday’s game against the free-scoring, in-form Bulls, who have won their last four, at altitude.
Defeat could see Munster slip out of the top eight if the Lions and Connacht win at home to the Dragons and Ospreys, ahead of a four-game run-in against Benetton (away), Ulster (home), Connacht (away) and Lions (home). In the Challenge Cup, they have a tough tie away to Exeter. Worrying times.
Connacht
Connacht’s Finlay Bealham and head coach Stuart Lancaster celebrate Friday’s win over Ulster. Photograph: James Crombie/INPHO
Connacht’s first season under Stuart Lancaster has had a contrasting trajectory to Munster’s campaign, with those five defeats in their first seven games leaving them little or no room for manoeuvre in the race for the top eight.
However, last Friday’s superb and deserved 28-21 win away to Ulster, achieved through four fine tries, was their fourth in a row and leaves them just outside the top eight behind the Bulls on points difference. It also ended a run of 12 interpro defeats.
Some players have fallen by the wayside, but, as in his Leinster days the quality of Lancaster’s training sessions have borne fruit and he has again inspired disciple-like respect while working his Midas touch with young players.
Hosting the Ospreys on Saturday looks must-win given the trek to South Africa to face the Stormers and Lions, before a monstrous final home game of the season against Munster and then a last day visit to Edinburgh as they strive to bring Champions Cup rugby to the Dexcom next season.
To that end, in the Challenge Cup they have a marquee Round of 16 tie at home to the Sharks to earn a quarter-final, most likely away to Montpellier, in a tournament Connacht have also targeted.