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Having led the table since December, Leinster secured the Magners League trophy with victory over Newport Gwent Dragons in Dublin last Saturday, so the final round of games is all about position in the Magners League table.

The final weekend opens on Friday with Ospreys in action in Connacht, and if the visitors claim their first away victory of the season it would stop an unfortunate run of loses in Ireland.

Also on Friday Newport Gwent Dragons face the champions for the second successive week, knowing that their Tuesday win over Ospreys has secured a place in the Heineken Cup next season.

Friday's third game sees Ulster host Cardiff Blues. Victory would give the Welsh region runners up spot in the Magners League for the second year running; however they have lost on all five previous visits to Ravenhill.

Saturday sees both Scottish teams in action.

Glasgow Warriors travel to Heineken Cup finalists Munster, whilst Edinburgh are in Llanelli to play the Scarlets.

Both visiting teams are looking for their highest ever finish in the Magners League, victories would go some way to secure that.

We look at all the Round 18 games!

Friday, May 9:

Connacht v Ospreys
Sportsground, Galway - 18.30 (17.30 GMT)

Connacht have won just one of their last seven matches in the Magners League: 13-11 over the Dragons at Rodney Parade on 18 April. Connacht's only defeat in their last five home games against the Welsh regions was 11-39 to the Blues on May 2.

Ospreys lost to Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade earlier this week. Ospreys have lost on their last seven visits to Ireland for a Magners League game, since beating Connacht 44-16 at the Sportsground on 12 May 2006.

Connacht's only win in their last six matches against the Ospreys was 15-10 at the Sportsground on 8 September 2006.

Prediction: Connacht has been full of promise this season, but have often failed to deliver. It may just be the time for Ospreys to break their Irish drought, even though they are fielding a very young side. Ospreys to win by 10 points.

Teams:

Connacht: 15 Gavin Duffy, 14 Ofisa Treviranus, 13 Mel Deane, 12 Keith Matthews, 11 Daniel Riordan, 10 Andrew Dunne, 9 Conor McPhillips, 8 Colm Rigney, 7 John O'Connor, 6 John Muldoon, 5 Andrew Farley (captain), 4 Andrew Browne, 3 Robbie Morris, 2 Adrian Flavin, 1 Brett Wilkinson.
Replacements: 16 John Fogarty, 17 Ronan Loughney, 18 Brian McGovern, 19 Michael McCarthy, 20 Conor O'Loughlin, 21 Troy Nathan, 22 Darren Yapp.

Ospreys: 15 Gareth Owen, 14 Leigh Bevan, 13 Mark Taylor, 12 Jonathan Spratt, 11 Kristian Phillips, 10 Shaun Connor, 9 Rhys Webb, 8 Tom Smith, 7 Steve Tandy, 6 Hale T-Pole, 5 Lyndon Bateman, 4 Andy Lloyd, 3 Cai Griffiths, 2 Richard Hibbard, 1 Paul James (captain).
Replacements: 16 Ed Shervington, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Mike Powell, 19 Marty Holah, 20 Martin Roberts, 21 Dan Biggar, 22 Ashley Beck.

Referee: Neil Paterson (SRU)
Touch Judges: G Clancey (IRFU), M Black (IRFU)

Newport Gwent Dragons v Leinster
Rodney Parade, Newport - 19.10 (18.10 GMT)

The Dragons beat Welsh glamour club Ospreys at Rodney Parade earlier this week. The Dragons' only win in their seven matches against the Irish provinces this season was 31-11 over Ulster at Rodney Parade on October 6.

Magners League champions Leinster lost their last away game, 13-15 at Murrayfield, but have not lost successive matches on the road in the Magners League this season. Leinster have won their last five games against Welsh opponents.

The two sides clashed in Dublin last Saturday, with Leinster running out 41-8 victors. The Dragons have now won just one of their last six encounters with Leinster: 31-18 at Rodney Parade on 18 February 2006.

Prediction: Leinster are likely to show why they were crowned champions and should record a comfortable win. Leinster by 15 points or more.

Teams:

Newport Gwent Dragons: 15 Kevin Morgan, 14 Gareth Wyatt, 13 Rhodri Gomer-Davies/ Paul Emerick, 12 Phillip Dollman, 11 Richard Fussell, 10 Jason Tovey, 9 Wayne Evans, 8 Joe Bearman/ Lewis Evans, 7 James Harris, 6 Colin Charvis (captain), 5 Luke Charteris, 4 Andy Hall, 3 Patrick Palmer, 2 Steve Jones, 1 Hugh Gustafson.
Replacements: 16 Ben Daly, 17 Adam Black, 18 Adam Jones, 19 Lewis Evans/Richard Parks, 20 Paul Emerick/Gareth Maule, 21 Ceri Sweeney, 22 Alex Walker.

Leinster: 15 Girvan Dempsey, 14 Shane Horgan, 13 Brian O'Driscoll (captain), 12 Michael Berne, 11 Luke Fitzgerald, 10 Jonathan Sexton, 9 Chris Keane, 8 Stephen Keogh, 7 Kevin McLaughlin, 6 Cameron Jowitt, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Trevor Hogan, 3 Stephen Knoop, 2 Brian Blaney, 1 Cian Healy.
Replacements: 16 Bernard Jackman, 17 Ronan McCormack, 18 Malcolm O'Kelly, 19 Richie Leyden, 20 Chris Whitaker, 21 Christian Warner, 22 Gary Brown.

Referee: Colin Stanley (IRFU)
Touch judges: Nigel Owens (WRU), Gwyn Morris (WRU)
TMO: Huw Lewis (WRU)

Ulster v Cardiff Blues
Ravenhill, Belfast - 19.30 (18.30 GMT)

Ulster tripped up 24-35 at home to Glasgow Warriors last Saturday and for the first time secured a try bonus point despite losing. Ulster have lost their last two games against Welsh opponents, but have not lost at Ravenhill against a Welsh side in the league since Ospreys were the visitors in November 2005.

Cardiff Blues have won their last four games in the Magners League; the Blues have not won five in a row in the league since season 2005/06. The Cardiff-based team have won five of their last six games against Irish opposition.

The last four clashes between the two teams have all been won by the home side on the day, whilst the Blues have lost on all five previous visits to Ravenhill.

Prediction: Cardiff Blues will need to overcome the emotions that will be running high as iconic Irish star David Humphreys end his career in this Ravenhill Park outing. When the Irish get themselves worked up they can be a dangerous bunch - and we don't mean in a nasty way. We expect Ulster to sneak a win, by less than 10 points.

Teams:

Ulster: 15 Mark Bartholomeusz, 14 Tommy Bowe, 13 Andrew Trimble, 12 Rob Dewey, 11 Simon Danielli, 10 David Humphreys, Isaac Boss, 8 Roger Wilson, 7 Kieron Dawson, 6 Stephen Ferris, 5 Ryan Caldwell, 4 Justin Harrison, 3 Tom Court, 2 Rory Best (captain), 1 Bryan Young.
Replacements: 16 Nigel Brady, 17 Justin Fitzpatrick, 18 Matt McCullough, 19 Neil Best, 20 Paul Marshall, 21 Paul Wallace, 22 Mark McCrea.
 
Cardiff Blues: 15 Nick Macleod, 14 Roger Davies, 13 Marc Stcherbina, 12 Dafydd Hewitt, 11 Leigh Halfpenny, 10 Nicky Robinson, 9 Richie Rees, 8 Xavier Rush (captain), 7 Ben White, 6 Maama Molitika, 5 Scott Morgan, 4 Bradley Davies, 3 Gary Powell, 2 Gareth Williams, 1 Taufa'ao Filise.
Replacements: 16 John Yapp, 17 T Rhys Thomas, 18 James Down, 19 Mark Lewis, 20 Rhys Shellard, 21 Jason Spice, 22 Dai Flanagan.

Referee: Andy Macpherson (SRU)
Touch Judges: E O'Dowd (IRFU), M Gargan (IRFU)

Saturday, May 10

Munster v Glasgow Warriors
Musgrave Park, Cork - 17 (16.00 GMT)

Munster have won eight of their last nine home games in all competitions, and are unbeaten against Scottish teams since a 10-21 reversal at the hands of Edinburgh at Thomond Park in the Magners League in October 2006.

Glasgow Warriors have won their last four matches in the Magners League, but have not won five league games in a row since the inaugural season of 2001/02.

The Warriors currently occupy fifth place in the Magners League table, their best ever finish in a league season was sixth in season 2004/05.

Munster's only victory in their last five encounters with Glasgow was 38-20 at Musgrave Park in May last year.

Prediction: There is a reason why Munster will play in the Heineken Cup Final later this month - they have plenty of class and depth - in fact they simply have too much of both for the Scottish outfit. Munster will win easily, by more than 15 points.

Teams:

Munster squad:

Forwards: Tony Buckley, Marcus Horan, John Hayes, Federico Pucciarello, Jerry Flannery, Frankie Sheahan, Paul O'Connell, Donncha O'Callaghan, Mick O'Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan, Alan Quinlan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy, Anthony Foley (captain).

Backs: Peter Stringer, Tomás O'Leary, Ronan O'Gara, Paul Warwick, Lifeimi Mafi, Rua Tipoki, Keith Earls, Doug Howlett, Ian Dowling, Anthony Horgan, Denis Hurley, Shaun Payne

Glasgow Warriors: TBC

Referee: James Jones (Wales)
Touch judges: Alan Rogan (Ireland), Brian Macneice (Ireland)
TMO: Trevor Collins (Ireland)

Llanelli Scarlets v Edinburgh Rugby
Stradey Park, Llanelli - 17.30 (16.30 GMT)

Llanelli Scarlets have lost their last four matches in the Magners League. The Scarlets have been defeated in back-to-back matches at Stradey Park and will want to avoid setting a new unwanted record of three successive losses at the famous old ground since the region was formed in 2003.

Edinburgh have won their last two games in the Magners League and need to win to secure their best ever finish in a league campaign. Edinburgh are undefeated in Wales this season, beating Cardiff and the Ospreys and drawing with the Dragons on their home soil.

The Scarlets have beaten Edinburgh just once in their last five encounters in all competitions, however Edinburgh have only ever won once at Stradey Park: 21-15 in the league on 2 September 2005.
 
Prediction: Playing for places is one way to motivate teams in the final round when the league has already been won. It is simply a case of who wants it most. We think Edinburgh have that drive and will sneak a win, by about 10 points.

Teams:

Llanelli Scarlets: 15 Daniel Evans, 14 Dafydd James, 13 Matthew Watkins, 12 Gavin Evans, 11 Nathan Brew, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Liam Davies, 8 James Bater, 7 Johnathan Edwards, 6 Simon Easterby (captain), 5 Scott MacLeod, 4 Vernon Cooper, 3 Deacon Manu, 2 Mahonri Schwalger, 1 Phil John.
Replacements: 16 Iestyn Thomas, 17 Ken Owens, 18 Lou Reed, 19 Nathan Thomas, 20 Gavin Cattle, 21 Ceiron Thomas, 22 Darren Daniel.

Edinburgh Rugby: 15 Hugo Southwell, 14 Calum MacRae, 13 Ben Cairns, 12 Nick De Luca, 11 Andrew Turnbull, 10 Phil Godman, 9 Mike Blair, 8 David Callam, 7 Alan MacDonald, 6 Allister Hogg (captain), 5 Ben Gissing, 4 Matt Mustchin, 3 Geoff Cross, 2 Ross Ford, 1 Augusto Allori.
Replacements: 16 Steve Lawrie, 17 Allan Jacobsen, 18 Craig Hamilton, 19 Scott Newlands, 20 Greig Laidlaw, 21 David Blair, 22 Mark Robertson.

Referee: David Wilkinson (Ireland)
Touch judges: Tim Hayes (Wales), Simon Harris (Wales)
TMO: Tony Rowlands (Wales)

With thanks to magnersleague.com