With the line-up for the Guinness PRO14 final on Saturday March 27 confirmed, attention now turns to the race to secure Champions Cup places.
Ulster will finish behind champions Leinster in Conference A but Ospreys have a 10-point cushion over fourth-placed Glasgow Warriors, who do have a game in hand.
The Welsh side head to Scotstoun on Friday night for a crunch clash, knowing defeat will ensure Ospreys of third and also end the slim chances of Dragons, a point further adrift.
But it is Conference B where the real battle is as four teams can still finish in different positions, with Munster top and winless Benetton finishing bottom.
Connacht will secure second spot with a home win over Edinburgh, who are 14 points behind third-placed Scarlets although they do have two matches extra to play.
While Scarlets face a tough trip to Munster on Friday night, Cardiff Blues head to Benetton as they attempt to reduce the eight-point gap between them and Glenn Delaney’s side.
Dragons v Ulster – Match Preview
Ulster saw their bid to reach the PRO14 final come to an end with Saturday’s incident-packed 38-19 defeat by Leinster.
Despite their loss at Kingspan Stadium, Ulster head to Wales in good heart having lost just once in their last eight PRO14 games on the road and they are unbeaten in their last nine fixtures against the Welshmen.
Dragons, meanwhile, halted a six-match losing run in the league last Saturday with a 31-20 victory against Ospreys and are looking to beat an Irish province for the first time since a win against Connacht three and a half years ago.
Location:
Principality Stadium, Cardiff | KO 19:35 | Live on Premier Sports, eir Sport
Officials:
Referee: Adam Jones (WRU, 10th competition game) Assistant Referees: Ben Whitehouse, Dan Jones (both WRU) TMO: Ian Davies (WRU).
Overall Guinness PRO14 head to head record:
Played 33, Dragons won 10, Ulster won 21 with 2 games drawn.
Did you know?
- Dragons 31-20 victory at home to Ospreys on Saturday ended a six-game losing run in the Guinness PRO14.
- Dragons solitary victory at Rodney Parade since February 2020 was when Zebre were the visitors in October.
- The Welshmen have not beaten an Irish province since a home win against Connacht in September 2017.
- Ulster were defeated by table topping Leinster at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday and have not lost successive Guinness PRO14 encounters since August.
- The Ulstermen’s only defeat in their last eight away game in the PRO14 was on a trip to Leinster on 8 January.
- Ulster have lost only once to a Welsh region since November 2018, on a visit to Ospreys in February 2020,
- Ulster are unbeaten in their last nine fixtures with Dragons since Dragons victory at Rodney Parade in March 2015, a sequence which includes a 32-all draw at the same venue in December 2017.
