Leinster v Munster: IT'S BACK. The derby that divides much of the Irish rugby map, from offices to neighbourhoods and sometimes even families, writes Gerry Thornley.
What's more, it looks as well primed as ever. The European champions and league leaders being hosted by the Magners League champions, the only two unbeaten sides even in these formative stages, all to the backdrop of an 18,500 full house. The 2008-2009 season is about to ratchet up a few notches.
They are neither of them quite at optimum level just yet, for both are building toward a peak of sorts in a fortnight's time: the opening of the Heineken Cup. But both are in better shape for a meeting in the fourth week of the season than they would have been at any other point in the league's history and you know the renewal of this rivalry will have concentrated minds like no other League fixture.
Against that, one senses neither coach will be picking exactly these line-ups against Montauban and Edinburgh two weeks hence.
Predictably and understandably, the proximity of the Edinburgh trip obliged Michael Cheika to start both of his new arrivals, CJ van der Linde and Rocky Elsom.
More surprising are his preference for Ronnie McCormack at loosehead and the continuing presence of Robert Kearney as one of only two backs on the bench.
It's not that Girvan Dempsey hasn't been playing well. Quite the opposite: his radar remains uncanny and his counter-running and kicking and offloading have been good too. It's just that Kearney hasn't been given one outing yet at the position he seemingly nailed down for Ireland and where his physicality on the counter is invaluable with the new rules. Shane Horgan, indeed, must be feeling the heat as much as anyone and is due a big game, but then again he is a big-game player.
Coupled with the composition of the back three, the selection of Jonathan Sexton at 10 - rather than trying Felipe Contepomi there and looking again at the Brian O'Driscoll-Luke Fitzgerald partnership that ultimately may be Declan Kidney's only viable option come the November Tests - points to a Leinster emphasis on territory in the first quarter.
While Malcolm O'Kelly has also rolled back the years with some vintage rugby, the scrum has become the bigger attacking weapon. Thus far, the Leinster scrum has struggled compared to the strong unit of last season, affording Jamie Heaslip little platform, though van der Linde could go a long way to rectifying that and Elsom gives them serious dynamism in the back row.
By contrast, there is a more settled air to Munster, every starting player having had a run-out or more this season. Given the front row's innate understanding from countless campaigns, the only untried combination is the back row, where Tony McGahan has opted to have another look at Justin Melck, with Alan Quinlan (tailor-made to slowing down Leinster ball) kept in reserve for another big impact off the bench.
Picking Keith Earls also looks like a signature selection, hinting Munster will continue to play with plenty of width, although it's not as if Ronan O'Gara can't give them an equally exacting kicking game.
It remains the hardest match of all to call. The form lines are almost identical, Munster earning marginally the better result from tricky openers away, both turning on the style with 50-pointers when coming home, and following that up with harder-earned wins at home to tough Welsh opposition. Even their leading try scorers are the newish tyros on the block, Luke Fitzgerald and Keith Earls.
Home advantage, all the more so on a TV-dictated Sunday evening slot utterly unsuited to travelling fans, might be the one factor to sway it Leinster's way. They've won their last four home league games over Munster (so no inferiority complex there anymore) and their last eight "interpros". And it's not that you doubt they could beat Munster a third time in a row; it's just that you seriously doubt Munster would let it happen a third time in a row.
This is the first time this season they'll be obliged to dip deep into their vast reservoir of emotional energy, so it would be no surprise to see Paul O'Connell lead from the front with a tour de force and everyone following him.
They'll surely learn from their curiously ill-disciplined effort here last season, a raft of angrily conceded penalties setting Contepomi and Leinster on their way.
Thus far, Munster appear to have been a tad in cruise control. By contrast, Leinster have shown more adaptability tactically and a greater versatility in how they've accumulated their results.
And they have one other trump card in their deck: Alan Gaffney's insider knowledge. Recall how Saracens played in Munster faces, located soft spots defensively (especially on the blind side), matched them physically and nearly surprised Munster in last season's Heineken Cup semi-finals.
Either way, it should be a cracker, whether it breaks loose in the way a surprising number of their recent encounters have done, or fulfils the more predictable path of derbies - with all the insider knowledge on both sides - and stays relatively tight and low-scoring, with line-breaks and try-scoring opportunities at a premium. Because, if nothing else, it'll be unremittingly, fiercely and unyieldingly physical and intense from first minute to last, and most probably will be a one-score game.
The season is about to lift off. It should be an absolute belter.
LEINSTER:G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll, F Contepomi, L Fitzgerald; J Sexton, C Whitaker; R McCormack, B Jackman, CJ van der Linde; L Cullen (capt), M O'Kelly; R Elsom, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: S Wright, J Fogarty, T Hogan, C Jowitt, S O'Brien, C Keane, R Kearney.
MUNSTER:K Earls; D Howlett, R Tipoki, L Mafi, I Dowling; R O'Gara, T O'Leary; M Horan, J Flannery, J Hayes; P O'Connell (capt), D O'Callaghan; D Ryan, D Wallace, J Melck. Replacements: F Sheahan, F Pucciariello, J O'Sullivan, A Quinlan, P Stringer, P Warwick, B Murphy.
Referee:Simon McDowell (IRFU).
Previous League meetings:(2001-2002, final) Leinster 24 Munster 20; (03-04) Leinster 8 Munster 15; Munster 24 Leinster 13; (04-05) Leinster 17 Munster 15; Munster 19 Leinster 13; (05-06) Munster 33 Leinster 9; Leinster 35 Munster 23; (06-07) Leinster 27 Munster 20; Munster 25 Leinster 11; (07-08) Munster 3 Leinster 10; Leinster 21 Munster 12.
Betting (Paddy Power):Leinster, Draw, Munster. Handicap odds (= ) 10/11 Leinster, 16/1 Draw, 10/11 Munster.
Forecast:Leinster, maybe, just.
