The Rabodirect PRO12 makes a welcome return after a five week break, that has seen a record number of their teams through to the knockout stages of the European Competitions. Munster, Ulster, Leinster, Cardiff Blues and Edinburgh are in the final eight of the Heineken Cup, whilst Scarlets make the knockout stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup.
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With those games scheduled to be played over the Easter weekend, there are six rounds of RaboDirect PRO12 to concentrate on before then, starting this weekend with round 14. To avoid clashing with the Internationals games, the round kick-off on Thursday evening, with Glasgow Warriors hosting Scarlets and Leinster welcoming Benetton Treviso to the RDS.
Top of the table, Leinster, are nine points clear of second placed Ospreys, and fourteen points clear of the fifth placed team, Scarlets, so have a good cushion to keep their campaign for the finals on track. However just one point separates Glasgow Warriors from Scarlets, and a place in the Play-Offs, so a win is crucial for either side.
There are three games on Friday, one in each of three Unions – Ireland, Wales and Scotland, the hosts being the 6th, 7th and 9th placed teams, Ulster, Cardiff Blues and Edinburgh. Ulster and Blues are tied in the table on 31 points, but Blues still have a game in hand over their opponents, and both are facing teams from the lower reaches of the table, Newport Gwent Dragons and Connacht respectively. However any idea of an easy victory for the home teams must be tempered by the realisation that any team can win on their day, as Connacht proved last time out in their final Heineken Cup pool game, overcoming English Premiership leaders, Harlequins.
Second placed Ospreys will know that Murrayfield is going to be a hard place to claim the victory they need continue their push for a home Play-Off spot, and with the final round 14 game taking place in Italy on Sunday, when Aironi host Munster, the Welsh Region cannot allow any slip-up in Edinburgh that could see Munster move ahead of them into the coveted second place.
For full match previews and updated tables see the attached PDF file
