United Rugby Championship report card: How do the Irish provinces rank so far

With the November break coming up, Tom Savage assesses where the Irish provinces are at after completing a quarter of the URC regular season

VICTORY SALUTE: Jack Carty celebrates at the final whistle following Connacht’s victory over Ulster in the United Rugby Championship match at the Aviva Stadium.  Picture: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

The first five rounds of the United Rugby Championship are in the books and, despite the top of the league looking very similar to years gone by, with Leinster at the summit and Munster/Ulster in pursuit, I think it’s been more competitive than years gone by. The South African franchises haven’t really fired yet but I genuinely think that’s only a matter of time given the quality that they have to come back after November, the Sharks in particular.

Will that play out to a less predictable end to the season? We’ll have to wait and see but, with that November break coming up, where are the Irish provinces at with a quarter of the regular season done?