Good evening. It’s another big, big game in the chase for European and playoff places in the Pro12.

League leaders Connacht have won only three times in Ravenhill / Kingspan Stadium and not once in the professional era. Ulster though, have pressure mounting on them after they slipped outside the top four last week.

Tell us your thoughts on the game on Twitter @Rugby _ie, on Facebook here or down in the comments section if that’s your thing.

Contrary to the sun-kissed pic that originally topped this liveblog, conditions are bad in Belfast. Very bad.

Here are the teams who’ll slog it out in the Ravenhill mud. Keep an eye on Ireland’s first choice centres (both of them line out as fullback).

Ulster

15. Jared Payne
14. Andrew Trimble
13. Luke Marshall
12. Stuart McCloskey
11. Craig Gilroy
10. Paddy Jackson
9. Ruan Pienaar

1. Callum Black
2. Rory Best (Capt.)
3. Ricky Lutton
4. Peter Browne
5. Franco van der Merwe
6. Iain Henderson
7. Chris Henry
8. Roger Wilson

Replacements:

16. Rob Herring
17. Kyle McCall
18. Bronson Ross
19. Robbie Diack
20. Sean Reidy
21. Paul Marshall
22. Stuart Olding
23. Darren Cave

Connacht

15. Robbie Henshaw
14. Niyi Adeolokun
13. Bundee Aki
12. Peter Robb
11. Matt Healy
10. Shane O’Leary
9. John Cooney

1. Denis Buckley
2. Tom McCartney
3. Rodney Ah You
4. Andrew Browne
5. Aly Muldowney
6. John Muldoon (captain)
7. James Connolly
8. Eoin McKeon

Replacements:

16. Dave Heffernan
17. Ronan Loughney
18. Finlay Bealham
19. Ultan Dillane
20. Sean O’Brien
21. Caolin Blade
22. Cormac Brennan
23. Danie Poolman

Like we said… grim.

Hope those Connacht handling skills are as sharp as ever.

The teams are out in Kingspan Stadium and on BBC Stephen Ferris is predicting that Connacht will head back to Galway “with their tail between their legs.”

Is he right? Or are Ulster under-estimating the pace-setters in the Pro12?

KICK-OFF: O’Leary gets us under way. He’ll be asked to do more kicking that a Connacht 10 is used to tonight.

Muldowney puts the ball down in midfield. Jackson kicks ahead as he’s checked, but Connacht scramble well and find touch.

Connacht find themselves very much on the back foot early on here. Jackson picking and choosing the option to turn the defence well… BUT the hosts concede a sloppy offside penalty off a 5m Connacht line-out.

PENALTY! Ulster 3 Connacht 0 (Jackson ’6)

Connacht are pinged on their 10 metre line and Jackson punishes them with a deserved opening score for the hosts.

Good scrum on the right from Connacht. The westerners go from right to left across the 22 and Luke Marshall is penalised on the ruck.

O’Leary kicks for a line-out…

Connacht’s maul is halted well short and when they go wide the move breaks down and Craig Gilroy pounces.

Ulster couldn’t have asked for a better counter-attacker, but Matt Healy took chase and dragged his shirt to slow him down until the reinforcement  arrived.

HUGE HIT from Peter Browne and Roger Wilson rocks Andrew Browne on the 22. Penalty goes Ulster’s way as he can’t recycle.

PENALTY! Ulster 6 Connacht 0 (Jackson ’12)

Ulster’s tail is up now. Jared Payne chips over the green defence and Trimble regathers. Pienaar takes possession up but can’t find the pass to continue the attack.

Period of possession now for Connacht as they look to spread the ball and stretch Ulster. Henshaw has been a marked man so far and he has two white shirts on him as soon as he gathers the ball.

The visitors are forced backwards but they win a penalty for another Ulster infringement at the breakdown. The referee calls over Rory Best and he has a few stern words for the Ulster skipper.

Good attacking platform now for Connacht as they go through the phases. Aki is hit hard in midfield and Ulster’s defence is standing firm.

Slick hands on the left nearly creates the opening but the final pass is slightly forward and John Muldoon is pulled back.

Connacht really applying the pressure now and Muldoon breaks the gain line and the visitors are deep into Ulster territory.

But just when they’re knocking on the door, the turn over comes and Ulster force the penalty, much to the delight of the Ravenhill faithful.

Ulster make their way up field and then win a penalty as Muldoon is penalised at the breakdown. Jackson turns down the shot at the posts, instead opting for the corner, and Best finds his man.

The rolling maul comes and the hosts are just 15 metres out.

TRY! Ulster 11-0 Connacht (Best 28′)

Superb from Ulster. The rolling maul from the line-out gathers pace and momentum and there was not stopping them as Best has the simple task of falling over the line for the evening’s opening try.

Jackson can’t add the extras as his conversion strikes the post.

Brilliant break from Niyi Adeolokun in midfield, sets Connacht back on the front foot. But Big Rodney Ah You coughs up the ball on the 22 and gives a reprieve to the hosts.

Excellent heads up play from Muldoon, racing on to a touched Henshaw kick. Cooney runs a great angle outside, but he’s caught and dragged to touch.

Ruan Pienaar’s had a shocker! The scrum-half attempted a chip across field, but it flies 10-15 metres backwards and Connacht go in hunt.

The handling errors caught up with both sides though and we’ll restart with a green scrum 30 metres from the Ulster line.

The penalty goes Connacht’s way this time and O’Leary will take aim at the posts…

Oh dear, it’s banged against the upright and back to white jerseys.

O’Leary much better with ball in hand after Connacht re-take possession. He makes a half break in the 22 and the visitors can mount pressure…

Ulster are penalised again on that set of phases. O’Leary can finally get Connacht on the board on the stroke of half-time.

PENALTY! Ulster 11 Connacht 3 (O’Leary ’42)

HALF-TIME: Ulster 11 Connacht 3

Here’s the end stage of that thrilling race between Gilroy and Healy.

Presseye / Brian Little/INPHO Presseye / Brian Little/INPHO / Brian Little/INPHO

The second half is under way in Ravenhill. Muldoon pats a pass upwards and Healy ends up knocking on.

Stu McCloskey very nearly finds a gap on the 22. Ulster use his gainline to continue moving the Connacht D around.

Ulster appeared to have men over on the left, but Trimble hit up Marshall on a straight line and Browne went off his feet at the ruck.

Connacht give the ball straight back though and Browne makes up for the error by trucking it up.

TRY! Ulster 18 Connacht 3 (Gilroy ’44)

Excellent attacking shape from Ulster and even though Payne is stopped inside five metres, he gets a terrific offload away to Gilroy who taps down in the corner.

Jackson adds the extras with a terrific touchline conversion.

Ultan Dillane is in the game, and though the score board is almost beyond Connacht, he is making big inroads in the white wall.

Aki’s pass is forced to the deck by Andrew Trimble. We’ve seen worse, but he’s sin-binned for the knock on.

YELLOW CARD: Andrew Trimble.

Connacht set a good base of that penalty and created an overlap on the right side. Unfortunately for the Westerners, Henshaw opted to ignore Niyi Adeolokun on the touchline and attempted to step inside through traffic.

Ulster turnover, but Connacht spoil brilliantly and earn a scrum.

Les Kiss’ defence making Connacht to make decisions and they’re falling in to the trap of making big plays rather than small ones to punish Ulster.

Sean Reidy and Kyle McCall are on to freshen up the Ulster pack. Caolin Blade sends Marmion to the Connacht bench. Time running out for the visitors to make hay on this powerplay.

TRY! Ulster 18 Connacht 10 (Blade ’55)

That’s the decisions we wanted to see from Connacht. Superb try with Healy jettisoning the ball to a rampaging Muldoon before Blade pops up on the shoulder to score after a minute on the field.

O’Leary blasts over the conversion and Connacht are thinking of salvaging a point or maybe even more.

Andrew Trimble returns from the sin-bin and just in time for Ulster.

Iain Henderson moves in to the row thanks to Robbie Diack’s arrival in place of Browne.

Ulster scrum has just been blown away by Connacht. From a good position in the middle of the visitors’ half, Rory Best has to start all the way back on his own 10-metre line.

Ireland’s centres exchange kicks as fullbacks. Henshaw finds a decent touch and Ulster will try to mount a move from halfway.

The hosts putting the game in the hands of their big ball carriers now, but the biggest of them all – Hendo – puts it down under pressure. They’ll go back for a penalty though.

Luke Marshall is getting treatment before we play any more. Some precautionary neck checks before he sits up and heads off to be replaced.

Best hits Diack in the line-out. Good first up D from Connacht, but on the white machine rumbles..

RORY BEST!!!!?

The skipper looks like he bounced down on the line after a ferocious maul contest. We’re with the TMO.

Dudley Phillips penalises Connacht at the breakdown. Best directs Jackson back to the corner. They like their chances on the maul.

Matt Healy put his body in Best’s road there and took a brutal head to the chin as the hooker lowered his body to finish. TMO can only see a ball held up and Best heads off to be replaced by Rob Herring.

Buckley pinged in the scrum again by Phillips. Worrying place and frequency to be conceding penalties for the westerners.

Connacht force a turnover off the next phase, these incredible league leaders continue to punch above their weight in every sense. Terrific effort to withstand an Ulster maul that had Andrew Trimble thrown in for good measure.

Jackson moving the ball with excellent variation. Phillips blows the whistle again and looks like he wants to get a card out.

SIN-BIN: Shane O’Leary

Connacht’s 10 is yellow carded for a high tackle on Gilroy. The punishment is more for the mounting number of penalties that the offence itself.

Rory Best is back after a HIA. He takes a line-out and, off the back of it, Paul Marshall’s pass is blocked by the lazy-running Dillane.

Just a penalty. Reckon Marshall knew what he was doing there.

Fewer men in this line-out. Penalty comes to Ulster after Jackson attempts a big up and under.

SIN-BIN: Sean O’Brien

Connacht will finish the game with 13 men.

Henshaw it was who ripped the ball free and Healy lumped the ball clear once he was in space.

Stuart Olding comes in to the game in place of the injured McCloskey. Perhaps the smaller centre can find the gaps that have been elusive for the hosts.

The row is on again! Iain Henderson seemed to aim a bit of an upper cut at Bealham. Not sure what set him off.

TMO looking at it, just looks like Hendo is uber-frustrated. Smashed Bealham out of the ruck, then fronted up to follow through.

Connacht continue trying to run the ball from deep in their own half and it’s having the desired effect of sucking time off the clock.

They won’t get a bonus point, but the records will show they came pretty close and despite having 13 men for the endgame, they kept the deficit down with ferocious defending and clever play.

FULL-TIME: Ulster 18 Connacht 10