It will be interesting to see if there is any hangover from Ireland’s disappointing quarterfinal exit from the Rugby World Cup in France when the 2022/23 edition of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship kicks off with some interesting matchups this weekend.

The first two seasons have shown that the 18 game competition is a marathon and not a sprint and no one will know that better than Leinster, who have dominated the league phase of the URC over the past two seasons but come away with nothing other than the Irish Shield in terms of silverware.

In contrast to Leinster, their arch-rivals Munster last year made a disastrous start to the URC and were highly unlikely to make the cut for this season’s Heineken Champions Cup when they languished second last shortly before Christmas.

They were still out of the Champions Cup and even URC playoff contention going into the figurative final furlong of the league season but then started an astounding run of victories on the road that led ultimately to their first trophy in many years when they beat the DHL Stormers in the decider in Cape Town.

The Stormers too have proved the point that a poor start need not be seen as a disaster. They and the Vodacom Bulls were out of the placings heading into January 2022 in the inaugural URC seasons and yet the two South African teams ended up playing in the final, with the Stormers winning their first major international franchise/club trophy.

Connacht, who beat second placed Ulster to make last season’s semifinal, also made a similar statement in 2022/23 as they lost four of their first five games before recovering and making the URC playoffs.

It is Leinster though who surely carry the most baggage into this new season, both from an Ireland national viewpoint, for the bulk of the Ireland team is made up of Leinster players, and also from their own club viewpoint. It is a fact that Leinster have topped the URC log in both of the seasons the competition previously known as the PRO14, which they had won four years in a row before the change, has been played under that banner. And each time they have gone away with nothing significant.

It has been the same in the two Champions Cups played in the time that the URC has been in existence - they made the big occasion final both years and lost narrowly to LaRochelle both years. Add those disappointments to the World Cup disappointment which followed on from a 17 match unbeaten run and a long run as the No 1 ranked team and you start wondering if what the Leinster players might really need right now is a long session on a psychologist’s couch.

GLASGOW THE PLUM FIXTURE OF THE WEEKEND

They can’t do that though because they have a pretty hectic start to the URC season in the form of an away game to the Glasgow Warriors on Sunday night.

Looking at the competition globally, the one at the Scotstoun that concludes what should be an interesting weekend is probably the plum fixture as there is certainly potential jeopardy for the perennial log winners. In other big games in the first round the new champions, Munster, host a Hollywoodbets Sharks team that will be looking to make an early statement in their first competitive match under new coach John Plumtree.

Last year’s runners up, the DHL Stormers, will feel there is potential jeopardy in having to start on the highveld against an Emirates Lions team that started last season well before falling away in the middle and then recovering towards the end.

Munster did most of their moving up the log while playing on the road at the end of last season so there should be a special buzz around Thormond Park in the game against the Sharks as the home fans welcome their heroes back as champions. It is the first time Munster have been back to their headquarters since they started gaining momentum in the last part of the 2022/23 season. Indeed, their last game at home was a big loss to the Warriors before they flew to South Africa for a successful end of regular season tour where they beat the Stormers and came back from a big deficit to draw with the Sharks in Durban.

MUNSTER ARE ALSO WITHOUT THEIR BOKS

The Sharks will of course be without their Springboks for the match, and that does make a big difference to the Durbanites, but they should at least be pleased that the South African national team is helping them out by maintaining their World Cup challenge and thus denying Munster use of their two locks, RG Snyman and RG Snyman. Both of those are key players for Munster.

Leinster will of course be without the iconic Johnny Sexton, who has retired, but the Dubliners will be used to playing without him wearing the No 10, at least in the league phase of the competition.

As was the case in the first two seasons there will be a competition within the competition to make it into the top eight, and this year the regulations have been changed to ensure there’s less confusion. The Sharks missed out on qualification for Europe last season because although they finished in the top eight, their place had to go to the top Welsh finisher.

That is no longer the case - the top eight will go through regardless of how many teams from the different competing nations make it. There will still be plenty of pride at stake in the various battles for top spot in the different Shields, with Ireland starting as the Irish holders, the Stormers looking for a hattrick in South Africa and a potentially intriguing battle between two South African coaches, Franco Smith at Glasgow and former Sharks mentor Sean Everitt at Edinburgh, for the Scottish/Italian Shield.

WALL TO WALL SATURDAY FOR RUGBY LOVERS

The Welsh teams will be under pressure to improve on their lacklustre showings of the first two seasons, in which none of them made it into the top eight. It will be interesting to see how Scarlets front up at Loftus against the Bulls, and a week later they have an equally tough assignment when they go to Stellenbosch to play the Stormers.

Ulster, who finished second on the log in 2022/23 before making a lame exit at home to Connacht, get the new URC season up and running in what should be a wall-to-wall rugby day for South Africans looking forward to the RWC semifinal in the evening by playing Zebre in Parma in an early afternoon game.

Weekend Vodacom United Rugby Championship fixtures

Zebre v Ulster (Parma, Saturday 14.00)

Connacht v Ospreys (Galway, Saturday 16.00)

Emirates Lions v DHL Stormers (Johannesburg, Saturday 16.05)

Dragons v Edinburgh (Newport, Saturday 16.05)

Munster v Hollywoodbets Sharks (Limerick, Saturday 18.15)

Cardiff Rugby v Benetton (Cardiff, Saturday 18.15)

Vodacom Bulls v Scarlets (Pretoria, Sunday 15.00)

Glasgow Warriors v Leinster (Glasgow, Sunday 17.00)