With the rugby season about to kick-off we look ahead to the prospects of the Irish provinces.

LEINSTER

Last season: Champions Cup and Guinness Pro14 winners.

How do you follow a season like that? The answer, of course, is, with great difficulty. The mission is to retain both the Champions Cup and the Pro14 title. It's a mammoth task and in a World Cup year their squad will be tested to the limit. There is great solace in having such a proven coaching ticket in place and, as the saying goes, if anyone can pull off an unlikely double double, it's Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster, while Felipe Contepomi has been added to the backroom team. Managing their resources and striking at the right times, just like last year, is the key to more silverware.

Coach: Leo Cullen

Key man: Johnny Sexton - It's no coincidence that the out-half was in place for all the big matches and big moments of last season. Leinster are strong all over but the 33-year-old, who takes over the captaincy from Isa Nacewa, remains a class apart.

Players in: Vakh Abdaladze, (academy), Will Connors, (academy), Caelan Doris, (academy), Jordan Larmour, (academy), Josh Murphy (academy), Joe Tomane (Montpellier).

Players out: Joey Carbery (Munster), Ian Fitzpatrick (Ireland 7s), Jamie Heaslip (retired), Oisin Heffernan (Nottingham Rugby), Terry Kennedy (Ireland 7s), Jeremy Loughman (Munster), Jordi Murphy, (Ulster) Isa Nacewa (retired), Richardt Strauss (retired), Charlie Rock, Peadar Timmins, Cathal Marsh, Sean McNulty.

Opening fixtures:

Pro14 (Conference B)

Cardiff (a), 31 August, 7.35pm

Champions Cup (Pool 1 with Bath, Toulouse, Wasps)

Wasps (h), 12 October, 7.45pm

MUNSTER

Last season: Champions Cup and Pro14 semi-finalists

Perhaps exceeding expectations over the last two seasons, reaching three semi-finals and a final in the Pro14 and Champions Cup, the additions of Tadhg Beirne, the 2017/18 Player of the Year, and Ireland out-half Joey Carbery will see hopes rise even higher. The fact that they'll start the season with a settled coach after the disruptions of the last few years can only be good in terms of creating a stable environment. Channelling the frustration of being a clear second best to Leinster in the recent past could also be key. Captain Peter O'Mahony has said he's sick and tired of learning lessons from defeat. With the reinforcements that have arrived they'll feel it's time to add a trophy to the cabinet.

Coach: Johann van Graan

Key man: Joey Carbery - Leinster didn't want the Athy man to leave and for good reason. Seen as the heir to Sexton for Ireland, the new boy will get game time in his preferred position, a spot that Munster have never adequately filled since Ronan O'Gara's retirement.

Players in: Tadhg Beirne (Scarlets), Arno Botha (London Irish), Joey Carbery (Leinster), Neil Cronin (Garryowen), Mike Haley (Sale Sharks), Calvin Nash (Academy), Liam O’Connor (Academy), Fineen Wycherley (Academy)

Players out: Robin Copeland (Connacht), Gerbrandt Grobler (Gloucester), Dave Johnston (Ealing Trailfinders), Simon Zebo (Racing 92)

Opening fixtures

Pro14 (Conference A)

Cheetahs (h), 1 September 5.15pm

Champions Cup (Pool 2 with Castres, Exeter, Gloucester)

Exeter (a), 13 October, 3.15pm

CONNACHT

Last season: Challenge Cup quarter-final, sixth in Pro14 Conference A,

After a most disappointing season where they finished only above Zebre in the Pro14 and exited the Challenge Cup to Gloucester at home, Connacht have plenty of room for improvement. Gone is coach Kieran Keane, after just one season, and captain John Muldoon, a veteran of 15 years. New coach Andy Friend, formerly of Harlequins, Brumbies, Sungoliath and Australia 7s, will need to get to grips with the way things are down out west quickly to avoid the type of start - five losses in six games - that proved fatal last season. It won't be easy with the fixtures list throwing up the other winners from the last four years in September. The 2016 Pro12 win shifted expectations within the province and a return to the Champions Cup must be the minimum target for the team.

Coach: Andy Friend

Players in: Robin Copeland (Munster), Joe Maksymiw (Leicester), Jonny Murphy (Rotherham), Kyle Godwin (Brumbies), David Horwitz (Rebels), Colby Fainga’a (Rebels), Sevu Reece (Waikato, November).

Players out: John Muldoon (retired), Pita Ahki (Toulouse), Jake Heenan (Bristol), Andrew Deegan (Western Force), Denis Coulson, Cormac Brennan, Pat O’Toole, Steve Crosbie, Andrew Browne, Naulia Dawai, Stacey Ili.

Key man: Jarrad Butler - The loose forward impressed last season and now has to fill the boots of Muldoon in the role of captain, a tough task but the Australian has the qualities to step up to the mark.

Opening fixtures

Pro14 (Conference A)

Glasgow (h), 1 September, 3pm

Challenge Cup

Bordeaux-Begles (h), 13 October, 3pm.

ULSTER

Last season: Fourth in Conference B (won European play-off), third in Pool 1 of Champions Cup.

It's a new dawn for Ulster rugby and they will be most glad to put the 2017/18 season behind them. The high profile departures of Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding came in between the sacking of Les Kiss and the exit of Jono Gibbes. In addition a raft of retirements and transfers means it's a new-look side who will try to make a better showing in the Pro14 and Champions Cup. New coach Dan McFarland, who previously worked with Ireland U20s, Connacht, Glasgow and Scotland, has admitted it will take time to gel but, with the addition of Jordi Murphy and the return to fitness of Marcell Coetzee, they have a back row that can be a massive influence in big games. Rory Best continues as captain.

Coach: Dan McFarland

Players in: Marty Moore (Wasps), Jordi Murphy (Leinster), Will Addison (Sale), Billy Burns (Gloucester), Alex Thompson (Terenure), Henry Speight (Brumbies, short-term)

Players out: Charles Piutau (Bristol), Tommy Bowe (retired), Callum Black (Worcester), Brett Herron (Jersey Reds), Paul Marshall (retired), Callum Patterson (Cornish Pirates), Andrew Trimble (retired), Stuart Olding (Brive), Jared Payne (retired), Paddy Jackson (Perpignan), Robbie Diack, Aaron Cairns.

Key man: Jordi Murphy - The flanker left Leinster on a high, starting their crucial end of season games, and was also a regular with Ireland during the Six Nations. Ulster have landed a proven performer of the highest calibre.

Opening fixtures

Pro14 (Conference B)

Scarlets (h), 1 September, 3.15pm

Champions Cup (Pool 4 with Leicester, Racing 92, Scarlets)

Leicester (h), 13 October, 5.30pm