Pro12: Local derbies
Six home wins in round 10 saw a change at the top of the Pro12 table, with Ospreys retaking the lead, a position they have held after eight of the 10 rounds played so far this season.
Leinster have broken into the top four for the first time this campaign, whilst conversely Ulster dropped out of the play-Off zone. Glasgow Warriors and Munster also swapped places to complete a wholesale change of the top four from the previous round.
It all starts on Boxing Day in Wales, when Cardiff Blues and Newport Dragons lock horns in the capital city, to see which one will claim local bragging rights.
It will be a special occasion for prop Sam Hobbs will hit the major milestone of becoming a centurion for the Blues as Director of Rugby Mark Hammett looks to manage and utilise his squad over the busy festive period.
Also on December 26, the third and fourth placed teams, Munster and Leinster, face each other in a St Stephen's Day derby at Thomond Park, Munster took the spoils when the two teams met at the Aviva Stadium in October. Later the same day, north of the border, Ulster face the remaining Irish province, Connacht, and with both sides having ambitions to finish in the top four at the end of the season, a win is vital.
On Saturday, table topping Ospreys are in action when they welcome West Wales rivals, Scarlets, to the Liberty Stadium in Swansea. Even though it is only a short hop, the visitors do not appear to travel well as they have not won at the venue in the tournament since September 2007.
Saturday also sees the first leg of 1872 Cup clash between second placed Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh at Scotstoun. Warriors have held on to the trophy for five successive seasons since they won it in 2009/10, and if their form in the Pro12 is any guide, it will take two impressive performances to wrestle it from their grip.
Edinburgh have gone 225 minutes without conceding a try which wing Dougie Fife believes is a result of the systems their former defence coach South African, Omar Mouneimne, put in place before leaving the club for "personal reasons".
"Omar was a big loss, but I'm sure he is still looking at how we are doing to see how we are putting into effect what he taught us. Losing a defence coach is hard but it has almost brought us closer together.
"The boys are putting in extras and defence does win you games. We are seeing big hits and turnovers regularly now.
"It was amazing to get six tries and a first bonus point since beating Connacht at home last season. But the boys are even happier at the clean sheet. When Sam and Tom step up that obviously lifts us too. We can always look back on things to work on which is good, too, but going 48 points up is always acceptable.
"Also, when you go ahead with a try after 45 seconds, as we did, that put heads up and we never seemed to look back," he said.
The round wraps up in Italy on Sunday, with national bragging rights and future European qualification the main objective for Zebre and Treviso in these back-to-back fixtures.
We look at all the Round 11 matches!
Friday, December 26
Cardiff Blues v Newport Dragons
(Cardiff Arms Park - Kick-Off: 16.05; 16.05 GMT)
The teams:
Cardiff Blues: 15 Joaquin Tuculet, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 Cory Allen, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Lucas Amorosino, 10 Gareth Davies, 9 Lewis Jones, 8 Josh Navidi, 7 Ellis Jenkins, 6 Josh Turnbull, 5 Lou Reed, 4 Jarrad Hoeata, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Matthew Rees (captain), 1 Sam Hobbs.
Replacements: 16 Kristian Dacey, 17 Gethin Jenkins, 18 Taufa'ao Filise, 19 Macauley Cook, 20 Manoa Vosawai, 21 Tavis Knoyle, 22 Gareth Anscombe, 23 Adam Thomas.
Dragons: 15 Tom Prydie, 14 Matthew Pewtner, 13 Tyler Morgan, 12 Jack Dixon, 11 Hallam Amos, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Jonathan Evans, 8 Lewis Evans, 7 Nic Cudd, 6 James Thomas, 5 Rynard Landman (captain), 4 Andrew Coombs, 3 Brok Harris, 2 T. Rhys Thomas, 1 Phil Price.
Replacements: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Owen Evans, 18 Dan Way, 19 Cory Hill, 20 Ian Gough, 21 Richie Rees, 22 Dorian Jones, 23 Geraint Rhys Jones.
Referee: Leighton Hodges
Assistant referees: Rhys Thomas, Craig Evans
TMO: Gareth Simmonds
Munster v Leinster
(Thomond Park - Kick-off: 19.00; 19.00 GMT)
The teams:
Munster: 15 Felix Jones (captain), 14 Andrew Conway, 13 Pat Howard, 12 Denis Hurley, 11 Ronan O'Mahony, 10 Ian Keatley, 9 Duncan Williams, 8 Robin Copeland, 7 Tommy O'Donnell, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Billy Holland, 4 Donnacha O'Callaghan, 3 Stephen Archer, 2 Duncan Casey, 1 John Ryan.
Replacements: 16 Kevin O'Byrne, 17 Eusebio Guiñazú, 18 BJ Botha, 19 Dave O'Callaghan, 20 Paddy Butler, 21 Neil Cronin, 22 JJ Hanrahan, 23 Johne Murphy.
Leinster: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Darragh Fanning, 13 Luke Fitzgerald, 12 Gordon D'Arcy, 11 Dave Kearney, 10 Ian Madigan, 9 Isaac Boss, 8 Jack Conan, 7 Shane Jennings (captain), 6 Dominic Ryan, 5 Kane Douglas, 4 Mike McCarthy, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 2 Richardt Strauss, 1 Michael Bent.
Replacements: 16 Aaron Dundon, 17 Maks Van Dyk, 18 Jamie Hagan, 19 Tom Denton, 20 Jordi Murphy, 21 Luke McGrath, 22 Jimmy Gopperth, 23 Noel Reid.
Referee: Nigel Owens
Assistant referees: Mark Patton, Stuart Gaffikin
TMO: Simon McDowell
Ulster v Connacht
(Kingspan Stadium - Kick-off: 20.45; 20.45 GMT)
The teams:
Ulster: 15 Louis Ludik, 14 Craig Gilroy, 13 Darren Cave, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Peter Nelson, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Paul Marshall, 8 Roger Wilson (captain), 7 Clive Ross, 6 Robbie Diack, 5 Franco van der Merwe, 4 Dan Tuohy, 3 Wiahahn Herbst, 2 Rob Herring, 1 Callum Black.
Replacements: 16 John Andrew, 17 Andrew Warwick, 18 Declan Fitzpatrick, 19 Alan O'Connor, 20 Sean Reidy, 21 Michael Heaney, 22 Ian Humphreys, 23 Stuart Olding.
Connacht: 15 Darragh Leader, 14 Danie Poolman, 13 Bundee Aki, 12 Dave McSharry, 11 Matt Healy, 10 Jack Carty, 9 John Cooney, 8 George Naoupu, 7 Willie Faloon, 6 John Muldoon (captain), 5 Aly Muldowney, 4 Quinn Roux, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Tom McCartney, 1 Ronan Loughney.
Replacements: 16 Dave Heffernan, 17 Denis Buckley, 18 Rodney Ah You, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Eoghan Masterson, 21 Kieran Marmion, 22 Craig Ronaldson, 23 Mils Muliaina.
Referee: John Lacey
Assistant referees: Dudley Phillips, Nigel Correll
TMO: Brian McNeice
Saturday, December 27
Glasgow Warriors v Edinburgh
(Scotstoun - Kick-off: 16.40; 16.40 GMT)
The teams:
Glasgow Warriors: 15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Sean Lamont, 13 Alex Dunbar, 12 Peter Horne, 11 DTH van der Merwe, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Henry Pyrgos, 8 Josh Strauss, 7 Rob Harley, 6 Ryan Wilson, 5 Al Kellock (captain), 4 Tim Swinson, 3 Euan Murray, 2 Pat MacArthur, 1 Ryan Grant.
Replacements: 16 Dougie Hall, 17 Alex Allan, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Leone Nakarawa, 20 Tyrone Holmes, 21 Niko Matawalu, 22 Richie Vernon, 23 Sean Maitland.
Edinburgh: 15 Jack Cuthbert, 14 Dougie Fife, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Andries Strauss, 11 Tom Brown, 10 Greig Tonks, 9 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 8 David Denton, 7 Roddy Grant, 6 Mike Coman (captain), 5 Ben Toolis, 4 Anton Bresler, 3 John Andress, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Alasdair Dickinson.
Replacements: 16 Neil Cochrane, 17 Rory Sutherland, 18 Willem Nel, 19 Fraser McKenzie, 20 Stuart McInally, 21 Grayson Hart, 22 Tom Heathcote, 23 Phil Burleigh.
Referee: George Clancy
Assistant referees: David Changleng, Bob Nevins
TMO: Iain Ramage
Ospreys v Scarlets
(Liberty Stadium - Kick-off: 19.15; 19.15 GMT)
The teams:
Ospreys: 15 Dan Evans, 14 Hanno Dirksen, 13 Ashley Beck, 12 Josh Matavesi, 11 Eli Walker, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tyler Ardron, 7 Justin Tipuric, 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 James King, 3 Dmitri Arhip, 2 Scott Baldwin, 1 Marc Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Sam Parry, 17 Gareth Thomas, 18 Daniel Suter, 19 Rynier Bernardo, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Martin Roberts, 22 Sam Davies, 23 Aisea Natoga.
Scarlets: 15 Liam Williams, 14 Harry Robinson, 13 Regan King, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Rory Pitman, 7 John Barclay (captain), 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 George Earle, 4 Jake Ball, 3 Samson Lee, 2 Emyr Phillips, 1 Rob Evans.
Replacements: 16 Kirby Myhill, 17 Wyn Jones, 18 Rhodri Jones, 19 Lewis Rawlins, 20 Will Boyde, 21 Rhodri Williams, 22 Steven Shingler, 23 Steffan Hughes.
Referee: Marius Mitrea
Assistant referees: Wayne Davies, Jon Mason
TMO: Derek Bevan
Sunday, December 28
Zebre v Treviso
(Stadio XXV Aprile - Kick-off: 19.15; 18.15 GMT)
The teams:
Zebre: 15 Hendrik Daniller, 14 Giovanbattista Venditti, 13 Giulio Bisegni, 12 Matteo Pratichetti, 11 Leonardo Sarto, 10 Kelly Haimona, 9 Brendon Leonard, 8 Samuela Vunisa, 7 Andries Van Schalkwyk, 6 Mauro Bergamasco, 5 George Biagi, 4 Quintin Geldenhuys (captain), 3 Dario Chistolini, 2 Andrea Manici, 1 Andrea Lovotti.
Replacements: 16 Oliviero Fabiani, 17 Andrea De Marchi, 18 Luca Redolfini, 19 Marco Bortolami, 20 Valerio Bernabò, 21 Luciano Orquera, 22 Giulio Toniolatti, 23 Guglielmo Palazzani.
Treviso: TBC
Referee: Andrew McMenemy
Assistant referees: Matteo Liperini, Elia Rizzo
TMO: Carlo Damasco