RUGBY: Another Celtic League match the week before the Heineken European Cup kicks off might in a different context have seemed a minor irritant, but not only will Leinster be glad of an outing and a chance of redemption after last week's chastening setback at Munster, they'll be starting with something of a clean slate as well.
Credit where it is due, for though the Leinster Branch have copped plenty of flak for registration gaffes, player exodus and a coaching office with a revolving door, they've been full of progressive intentions off the pitch this season, the highlight of which has been the move to the RDS.
Lansdowne Road was always more a case of half-empty than half-full for Leinster's pool matches there, aside from which they sacrificed something of the fortress they'd built up at Donnybrook, where they hadn't lost a European tie in four full campaigns, dating back to November 1998. In contrast, they've lost three of their nine cup ties at Lansdowne Road.
Nevertheless, helped by an eight-game unbeaten run at Donnybrook, Leinster have lost only one of their last 15 league and cup matches in the capital.
Now they embark upon their third venue which, with a 13,500 capacity, is more akin to an expanded Donnybrook.
As Stade Francais's record 80,000 crowd for this weekend's Top 14 match with Toulouse demonstrates, wild, unimaginable things can be achieved, especially with hitherto-untapped metropolitan clubs, and Leinster have probably the least-tapped audience potential of any team in Europe.
This can only be seen as a step in the right direction, as is further evidenced by the IRFU's, and Munster's, difficulties in expanding Thomond Park, where the 14,000 limit must scarcely achieve 50 per cent of their potential for European Cup ties.
The move has also given a palpable buzz to the Leinster players, and today's trial run is a smart move. Helpfully, they've already trained on it three times.
"The pitch is good," says coach Michael Cheika. "It's a bit different from Donnybrook. It's more of an old-style footie pitch, not like the fabric in the ground at Donnybrook. It's clay-based and takes a stud very well. No doubt there'll be a great atmosphere.
"The players are very excited about having the ground full of people, and maybe it's an illusion, but it looks like it's big and wide, which should suit us."
This then, constitutes a big opportunity to rectify some of last week's wrongs and lay down a marker at their new home.
"The breakdown," answers Cheika, when asked what specific areas he was most looking for an improvement in. "We played that area very well the week before and we've done a lot of work this week on that, and on our defensive line speed and our handling."
One imagines training wasn't a barrel of laughs this week, and those given a chance to redeem themselves will avail of it. Cheika hasn't made any knee-jerk decisions, though Brian O'Riordan and David Blaney are given starts at the expense of Brian O'Meara and Bernard Jackman, and Ciaran Potts comes in for the injured Eric Miller. Lansdowne's Cameron Jowitt, a fringe Auckland NPC lock, is drafted to the bench, as this game, alas, comes a week too early for Malcolm O'Kelly.
To further motivate the side, this will be Reggie Corrigan's 100th cap for his province, the 34-year-old Greystones man joining his old muckers Victor Costello and Shane Byrne in Leinster's exclusive century club.
With their Lions and Xavier Rush, a try-scoring debutant last week, on board, big-spending Cardiff are a different proposition now from the team that lost to Connacht and Ulster; witness a run of three wins before last week's 40-19 defeat at Wasps.
Among the five changes made by Dai Young, Maama Molitika and Martyn Williams return alongside Rush in a potent back row and Cheika identifies outhalf Nick Robinson, likely to start at outhalf for Wales against the All Blacks, as the unpredictable running pivot in their slightly "off the cuff" approach.
They'll take some subduing, and Leinster, for a variety of reasons, will need a big performance.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, G D'Arcy, F Contepomi (capt), D Hickie; C Warner, B O'Riordan; R Corrigan, D Blaney, W Green, B Gissing, B Williams, C Potts, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: R McCormack, B Jackman, C Jowitt, D Dillon, B O'Meara, K Lewis, R Kearney.
CARDIFF BLUES: R Williams (capt); C Czekaj, J Robinson, T Davies, C Morgan; N Robinson, M Phillips; J Yapp, G Williams, B Evans, D Jones, R Sidoli, M Molitika, M Williams, X Rush. Replacements: M Jones, R Johnson, K Schubert, R Sowden-Taylor, R Powell, M Stcherbina, L Thomas.
Referee: Andrew Ireland (SRU).
Head-to-heads: (95-96) (EC) Leinster 14 Cardiff 23; (03-04) (CL) Cardiff 22 Leinster 3; (EC) Cardiff 19 Leinster 24; (EC) Leinster 20 Cardiff 17; (CL) Leinster 18 Cardiff 22. (04-05) (CL) Leinster 9 Cardiff 9; Cardiff 6 Leinster 15.
Formguide: Leinster - 20-22 v Ospreys (a); 26-21 v Glasgow (h); 33-14 v Dragons (h); 30-23 v Ulster (h); 9-33 v Munster (a). Cardiff - 9-13 v Connacht (a); 22-25 v Ulster (h); 20-16 v Llanelli (h); 28-23 v Glasgow (a).
Leading try scorers: Leinster - R Kearney 3. Cardiff - M Molitika, C Morgan 2 each.
Leading scorers: Leinster - F Contepomi 83. Cardiff - N Robinson 47.
Forecast: Leinster to win.
