Munster held an open training session in Limerick this week with head coach Graham Rowntree meeting with the media afterwards.

The former England international spoke about the prospect of starting the season with an Irish derby.

"There’s always something that goes on in these games with our neighbours from up the road, and they’ve upped their game as well," he said.

"They’ve upped their physicality. Some of the work they’re doing around the ruck is very physical.

"They’re always a handful and they always lift their game for us. We’ve had some ding-dongs with them."

Image source, Inpho

When Munster won the URC in the inaugural season of Graham Rowntree's tenure in 2022-23, it felt as if the southern province's first silverware since 2011 had arrived ahead of schedule.

Yet, when finishing top of the standings last time around, there was an expectation that they could go on and defend their title. Glasgow sprung a deserving surprise at Thomond Park in the semi-finals and went on to be crowned champions a week later, casting a long shadow over the summer in Limerick.

The loss of RG Snyman, given his luckless injury profile over the years, will not weaken the side on the field unduly, but on the whole, the squad still looks weaker on paper than it did last year given that French centre Antoine Frish's international situation forced has his exit.

The arrival of Tjaakier Abrahams should, at least, bring some explosiveness to the back-three, while Jean Kleyn's return from injury provides a real boost, as will Edwin Edogbo's who is expected back mid-season.

A better start than in recent seasons would be wholly welcome, while a return to the sharp end of Europe should be viewed as a real target.

Read more of our provincial preview here.

Image source, Inpho

A season that started strongly for Connacht really petered out last time around with departed director of rugby Andy Friend ultimately and expectedly proving a hard act to follow in Galway.

What was an entirely new ticket, headed up by Friend's former assistant Pete Wilkins, will expect to deliver greater consistency in their second season, especially with the drop back down to the Challenge Cup presumably easing the load on his squad.

Plenty of experience has departed over the summer with the likes of Tiernan O'Halloran and former captain Jarrad Butler leaving, while once-capped All Black Josh Ioane is the most high profile of their arrivals as the side look to compensate for JJ Hanrahan's injury.

The youthful nature of the squad was highlighted by the decision to make 24-year-old Cian Prendergast captain for this season, though the returns to fitness of Mack Hansen and Santiago Cordero, the latter currently on Rugby Championship duty with Argentina, will bring Test-level quality to their play-off push.

Returning to the Champions Cup should be the objective.

Read more of our provincial preview here.

Image source, Inpho

There's three debuts apiece in what is the first interpro of the season but fans will be equally excited to see some integral returnees too.

Former Ulster fly-half Billy Burns, Thaakir Abrahams and ex-Connacht centre all pull on the red jersey for the first time in a competitive game this evening.

After ten months out through injury, the return of South African World Cup winner Jean Kleyn is a huge boost to the southern province too.

For Connacht, how good it must be to see Mack Hansen back in the side for a first competitive game since lining out against Munster all the way back on 1 January. With Santiago Cordero back from Rugby Championship duty with Argentina, and Josh Murphy starting at flanker following his one season sabbatical, Pete Wilkins has certainly been able to name a strong side.

There'll be plenty of eyes on once-capped All Black Josh Ioane who makes his debut at ten for the westerners, with fellow newcomers Piers O'Connor and Ben Murphy also starting.

Munster: Mike Haley; Thaakir Abrahams, Tom Farrell, Alex Nankivell, Shane Daly; Billy Burns, Craig Casey; Jeremy Loughman, Diarmuid Barron (C), John Ryan; Jean Kleyn, Fineen Wycherley; Ruadhan Quinn, John Hodnett, Gavin Coombes.

Replacements: Niall Scannell, Josh Wycherley, Oli Jager, Alex Kendellen, Jack O’Donoghue, Ethan Coughlan, Tony Butler, Sean O’Brien.

Connacht: Santiago Cordero, Mack Hansen, Piers O’Conor, Cathal Forde, Shayne Bolton, Josh Ioane, Ben Murphy, Denis Buckley, Dave Heffernan, Jack Aungier, Joe Joyce, Darragh Murray, Josh Murphy, Conor Oliver, Cian Prendergast (C).

Replacements: Dylan Tierney-Martin, Peter Dooley, Sam Illo, Oisin Dowling, Shamus Hurley-Langton, Caolin Blade, David Hawkshaw, Sean Jansen.

Image source, BBC Sport

Welcome to the opening weekend of United Championship Rugby!

The 2024-25 campaign got underway last night with victories for Leinster and Cardiff with three of the Irish provinces beginning their own seasons this evening.

With Connacht in Limerick to face Munster, we have a mouth-watering Irish derby to kick things off, with Ulster then hosting reigning champions Glasgow at Kingspan Stadium.

We'll have live text coverage of both games right here.

Here's hoping for a great evening's rugby to start the new season. Thanks for joining us!

Image source, BBC Sport