After their forays into Europe, this weekend sees the start of the festive derby fixtures for the RaboDirect PRO12 teams.
Ulster still lead the way with a perfect ten out of ten in this competition, a full nine points clear of their nearest rivals, Scarlets, and are one of three Irish Provinces currently in the Play-Off Zone. They welcome Leinster to Ravenhill on Friday night, a victory for the visitors would close the gap between themselves and the leaders to single figures, a loss could put their own top four place into jeopardy.
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The other all Irish fixture is on Saturday when fourth placed Munster travel to the Sportsground to play Connacht, who are looking for a clean sweep over the three other Irish Provinces in Galway this season. Munster have been in the top five of the table all season, but any slipup in Galway could let Glasgow Warriors or Ospreys take over their coveted Play-Off spot.
There is only one all Welsh derby before Christmas as the round 11 game between Newport Gwent Dragons and Ospreys has been held back until New Year’s Eve, so the focus on Friday night will be in Cardiff where second placed Scarlets are the visitors at the Arms Park. Scarlets need to be aware of the teams both above and below them in the table; whilst they will be anxious to close the gap on the leaders, they must be aware that any slip up could see them lose the home Play-Off berth they currently hold.
The remaining game on Friday night is the first of the Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh Rugby double header. Honours were even in the first game last Christmas, with Warriors going on to take the second leg, and with the home team still very much in the running for a top four spot, there is guaranteed to be a capacity crowd at Scotstoun for this encounter.
The only remaining game before Christmas will be in Italy on Saturday, with the first ever local derby between Zebre and Benetton Treviso. The hosts are still looking for their inaugural win in the competition, but Treviso, who were minutes away from pulling off the shock of the last round of European games, will be a hard team to beat.
