Leinster led Conference A in the early weeks of the competition but fellow Irish province Ulster were always hot on their heels.

The postponed game and then the unexpected loss to Connacht recently ago pinned the men from Dublin back while Ulster forged ahead, only for Leinster to play themselves back into a good position with a solid home win in the recent face-off between their arch-rivals from Belfast in the Irish capital.

Ulster still have a home game against Leinster to come at Kingspan Stadium and will feel they are still strongly in the race for the top spot in the conference that will secure them a place in the final, but Leinster will increase the pressure if they win in Llanelli in the later of two games to be played on Saturday night.

The gap between first placed Ulster and second-placed Leinster is just one point.

In the earlier match, another rescheduled fixture, Johann van Graan’s Munster will look to consolidate their strong position at the top of Conference B by winning away against Benetton.

Munster currently enjoy an 11-point lead on second-placed Connacht after the same number of games (10) and should be expected to maintain their stranglehold when they visit Treviso in Italy, as Benetton have been experiencing a poor campaign and have yet to win after nine games.

Van Graan's men lost narrowly to Leinster last week but even with their top two scrumhalves away on national duty with Ireland ahead of the Six Nations they should win with something to spare.

History suggests the Leinster game at Parc Y Scarlets is perhaps less easy to call. Although Scarlets have lost two in a row and will be trying to avoid the ignominy of suffering three successive defeats for the first time since late 2018, they have been a bogey team for Leinster when the Irish team visit them.

Scarlets won 23-21 when the sides last met in Llanelli in September 2018, which followed a 10-10 draw in March of the same year.

The big news for Leinster is that experienced prop Tadhg Furlong is expected to make an eagerly awaited return after being out for almost a year with back, calf and hamstring problems.

Guinness Pro14 fixtures (rescheduled):

Saturday, 30 January
19h00: Benetton v Munster (Treviso)
21h35: Scarlets v Leinster (Llanelli)