This should be interesting, on and off the pitch. Connacht face Leinster in the seasonal finale to decide the Pro 12 champions of Ireland, not to mention Scotland, Wales and Italy too, and in Edinburgh. David v Goliath it may be, but there's no telling how it might pan out, either in the Murrayfield pitch or in the stands.
Supposedly 30,000 tickets have been sold, but heaven knows how many will be stay- away Ulster and Glasgow fans.
The colours will tell us much. By rights, Murrayfield should have a blue hue, in deference to Leinster (population 2.5 million-plus) having the home dressing-room. When the Red Army invaded the old Lansdowne Road for the 2006 Heineken Cup semi-final, you knew there could only be one winner. When the Blue Army reclaimed half of Croke Park for the 2009 semi-final, Leinster were on the march.
Momentum
Connacht (population 500,000- plus) have a momentum now which has echoes of Munster in their arrival on the big stage circa 2000.
They are travelling by trains, planes, automobiles and buses from the west – four coach loads will even sleep on board to avert rip-off hotel pricing, while one group has even bought a camper van for the occasion. It’s hard to tell how many will travel from Connacht, perhaps a few thousand, but possibly three times that from the diaspora.
And the goodwill has overwhelmed John Muldoon. "A lot of people are going to think I have got too big for my boots because I gave up replying yesterday, it was just too much," said the Connacht captain at yesterday's eve-of-match press conference.
“The support from people, neighbours, friends, people I went to school with, haven’t seen in a while, people I don’t know – I even got cards today off people I don’t know. I managed to get some ‘luck money’ as well . . . I would say there is a lot of novenas and candles going to be burnt throughout the night and we will take all of the help that we can get.”
Pat Lam has been able to name an unchanged side for the first time this season, while Leinster have lost Devin Toner and Isa Nacewa. "We're fortunate that we've got two very able replacements," said Leo Cullen of Rob Kearney and Ross Molony.
"Isa and Dev are two guys who would prefer to have in your team, but things have happened and they're not," said Jamie Heaslip. "But we have always gone on about the strength of the collective of the squad, and how we have different leaders peppered throughout the squad. That's where our true strength is."
Far from encountering Leinster at the wrong time Pat Lam believes: “We have got them at the right time . . . If we are going to go and win this thing I want to win it against the best possible team.”
