Despite their loss to Munster at Thomond Park on Saturday, as the New Year begins, Ulster remain clear at the top of the RaboDirect PRO12 table with a 9 point lead over second placed Scarlets, who they welcome to Ravenhill on Friday night.
That is just one of four games on Friday, two in Scotland and one in Wales, as the teams leave behind the festive local derbies and once more take to the road. Edinburgh Rugby welcome Irish opposition in the form of European champions, Leinster, whilst fourth placed Glasgow Warriors face Benetton Treviso at Scotstoun knowing the Italians defeated them on their last trip to the city.
The fourth game on Friday sees the other Italian outfit, Zebre, who are still looking for their first win in the tournament, take on champions Ospreys at Liberty Stadium.
There are two games on Saturday, both in Ireland, for Connacht and Munster.
Their loss to Ospreys in the delayed Round 11 game on New Year’s Eve means that Newport Gwent Dragons missed the opportunity to overtake their opponents, Connacht, in the table before travelling to Galway.
The round wraps up in Cork on Saturday evening, when Cardiff Blues will be hoping to improve on their record when travelling to play Munster as they have not won in the province since 2007.
