Munster v Stade Francais: Richter scales at the ready, it's time to rumble again. Munster's Magnificent Obsession with the Heineken European Cup, their search for their Holy Grail, resumes this afternoon with an 18th instalment at their Thomond Park fortress when the Irish standard-bearers host the French champions, Gerry Thornley in Limerick
That they've won all 17 of their previous Euro ties in Limerick doesn't make an 18th "a given" at all, for lest we forget, Stade Francais are on something of a mission as well. No less than Munster, for whom the words "at least we have the Celtic League" lack a certain oomph, the reigning French champions have long since given up the ghost on retaining their domestic crown.
With only a relegation battle facing them, the Parisian galacticos know their only remaining chance of silverware - indeed their only hope of re-entry into next season's Heineken Cup - and by extension their entire season, now hinges on today's 80 minutes.
It is a salutary situation for two of the biggest, proudest names in European rugby, and it may well ensure one of those earth-shuddering Thomond Park epics that we could almost become blasé about. Nor do Munster have the monopoly on obsession, for Stade still have, in today's squad, a surprisingly numerous ten survivors from their epic final defeat to Leicester three seasons ago.
Diego Dominguez spoke earlier in the season of that 34-30 defeat still being hard to swallow, and the only way he could digest it would be by lifting the trophy one day. The motivation it provided was demonstrated by their vengeful pool wins over Leicester, the second a sleeves-rolled-up, do-or-die effort in which an inspired Dominguez scored 21 points.
Their outstanding coach, Nick Mallett, has highlighted the threat posed by the Munster pack and especially the Munster lineout maul, but rarely has the Leicester pack been mauled off their Welford Road pitch quite like they were that night. The biter being bit.
More so even than most matches, the tremorous impact of the physical exchanges and the extent to which either maul can gain an ascendancy will go a long way toward deciding a fourth knock-out meeting between these two. And Stade, with proficient backrowers such as Patrick Tabacco (presumably, as it's outdoors, the Minister for Health will allow him to play) and Pierre Rabadan, as well as David Auradou and Mike James, have an excellent lineout.
Another key factor in Stade's win at Leicester was their outstanding kicking game, both through Dominguez's six from six, and the lengthy, tactical kicking of himself and Brian Liebenberg's siege-gun boot. The return of both players from injury is a huge boost, even if Agustin Pichot's loss must be significant.
However, a key difference from that night is that unlike Leicester, who could hardly buy a kick, Munster have Ronan O'Gara in what is yet another shoot-out between the two most prolific players - Dominguez has 633 points, O'Gara 582 - in this competition's history.
As important as the mauls will be discipline, and the two are inextricably linked, for they will afford these two outstanding goalkickers opportunities not alone to nail three-pointers but also to establish close-range lineouts. In this regard, under the astute leadership of Jim Williams, Munster would seem likely to have the edge, given the way Stade lost their cool a little in pool defeats away to Ulster and Gwent.
Indeed, at Thomond Park, Munster's discipline and unrelenting 80-minute efforts have been as good as ever.
Although Stade have quite a cutting edge, it will be to the exceptional French Grand Slam props and co up front that Stade will look to draw lines in the sand.
The Munster front row having been rested en bloc last week, the likes of Marcus Horan, Frankie Sheahan and Donncha O'Callaghan should be itching for a game like this.
After five Celtic League outings in more prosaic settings, today could be the stage for Christian Cullen as well, although a little surprisingly, Alan Gaffney has opted on the wing for the superior work-rate of Shaun Payne over the sharper finishing of Anthony Horgan - from the start at any rate.
"It was a tough call but we just feel that Shaun deserves his chance as he has been in slightly better form than Hoggy," explains the Munster coach, who is expecting "a tough slog".
It will be a long way removed from the back-to-back Super 12 matches on Sky yesterday, which yielded 21 tries, and it'll be all the better for that.
It's a knock-out quarter-final after all, with two seasons and two obsessions on the line. And somehow, at Thomond Park, raw-boned affairs remain the norm.
Quarter-finals have ceased to become routine home wins in the last couple of years, and the tension generated by the sudden advent of knock-out rugby invariably tightens up games.
"Mistakes can jeopardise what's been done over the previous six months," admits Gaffney, "but our job is to get them out of that mindset, to just try and focus on playing the game - playing what's in front of them."
They have the wit to do that, and, for once, have surely been given every incentive by the draw. Munster are seeking a fifth consecutive semi-final, and this time - rather than the annual semi-final odyssey to France - the carrot is a semi-final in, of all places, Lansdowne Road.
It's there for them.
