RUGBY: A record attendance for a Heineken European Cup pool game in Ireland, or potentially anywhere for that matter, is anticipated at Lansdowne Road this evening and the sense of expectancy is palpable.
After their gritty win in Sale, Leinster are 17-point favourites to record a sixth successive win over Welsh opponents. It is almost unnerving.
Such is the feel-good factor generated by the provinces last week, and the provinces feed off each other's performances off the pitch as much as on it, that the Leinster Branch have been obliged to open the upper tiers of the East and West stands.
The forecast, alas, is for wetter and colder weather today, though the rain is expected to cease by this afternoon and thereby not dissuade those wishing to pay at the turnstiles.
Buoyed by the almost unprecedented away support last week, that possible rarity for non-internationals at headquarters - an atmospheric Lansdowne Road - can surely only inspire Leinster.
The carrot is significant. Victory would put them tantalisingly within reach of the knock-out stages. Were it to come with a bonus point, it would mean Leinster could not be overtaken by Sale, and were the latter to deny Biarritz a win at home on Sunday, that would put Leinster into the last eight - thereby removing much of the potential grief from tomorrow week's Pool Three finale in the south of France.
But Cardiff have been something of a bugbear for Irish provinces. After wins over Ulster and Leinster in the inaugural Cup (Shane Byrne and Victor Costello survive from that meeting), Cardiff beat Munster on three occasions.
Admittedly, that was in the first three years of the competition, since when the wheel turned almost full circle, with the Irish provinces becoming fully professional outfits and the Welsh generally declining in a morass of their union's making.
Leinster will tonight be seeking their third successive "double" over Welsh opponents, though whatever about the useful Newport side of two seasons ago, Cardiff will be nothing like the soft touches Swansea were last season (or themselves for that matter).
After a summer of productive recruitment, their morale-boosting first win in 11 attempts in the European Cup (which also ended a run of eight successive defeats this season) last weekend was long overdue. Indeed, their form-line looks at least as good as Sale's.
"They've never been smashed this year," observes Leinster coach Gary Ella. "They've been in every game that they've played. They're a very tough side to get on top of.
"They've got a very strong pack, they've got halves who continually put the ball in front of their forwards, and they've got a couple of outside backs who are electric in the counter-attack, so you've got to be very careful kicking for touch."
A more indigenous, and seemingly prouder outfit this season, even without the injured Iestyn Harris, an unchanged Cardiff will start with 13 Welsh internationals tonight.
The threat of a merger with the Celtic Warriors (which served to galvanise both teams) has been abated by a ground-swell of supporter hostility.
However, the first shot in a power struggle for sport in the region was fired yesterday when they were served with legal notice that they were in breach of the lease on the ground with the Cardiff Athletic Club by playing as the Cardiff Blues. The niceties of this latest off-field rift, though, are unlikely to infiltrate the dressing-room.
Coach David Young has extolled the virtues of a "quality" Leinster outfit in their potent midfield and "streetwise" scrum, though mindful of Leinster's willingness to pass before or out of the tackle, is hopeful they can put the home side under pressure in that area.
"What you'll find is that they will chuck 50-50 passes and as long as we can keep pressure on them in defence there will be mistakes there."
He also spoke of emulating their pick-and-go tactics of the previous meeting, and, though they will utilise their pace out wide, unlike Sale they will seek to gain forward momentum up front and closer in initially. Leinster will have to meet them head on.
"If we're going to be a real threat in this competition we've got to attack teams' strengths," says Ella.
Without the skyscraping Chris Jones to contend with, one would expect Leinster to put right the lineout blips of the last fortnight.
However, after such an emotionally and physically draining effort in Sale last week on Reggie Corrigan, Byrne and co, not to mention the knocks Eric Miller and Costello are carrying, 24 hours less respite is a concern.
The nagging suspicion also remains that Leinster still haven't rediscovered some of the fluidity and potency of last season, relying instead more on individualistic ability to beat or break tackles - mostly from the in-form duo of Shane Horgan and Gordon D'Arcy.
Nevertheless, they should have enough firepower to maintain the momentum generated by last week's win.
LEINSTER LIONS: Girvan Dempsey; John McWeeney, Gordon D'Arcy, Shane Horgan, Brendan Burke; Christian Warner, Brian O'Meara; Reggie Corrigan (capt), Shane Byrne, Peter Coyle, Malcolm O'Kelly, Ben Gissing, Eric Miller, Victor Costello, Keith Gleeson. Replacements: Jason Moran, Gavin Hickie, Aidan McCullen, Shane Jennings, Brian O'Riordan, Matt Leek, David Quinlan
CARDIFF BLUES: Rhys Williams; Nick Walne, Jamie Robinson, Tom Shanklin, Craig Morgan; Nick Robinson, Rhys Powell; John Yapp, Gareth Williams, Ben Evans, Craig Quinnell, Andy Moore, Jim Brownrigg, Nathan Thomas, Martyn Williams (capt). Replacements: Ken Fourie, Darren Crompton, Rhys Thomas, Rob Appleyard, Andrew Moore, Matt Allen.
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England).
PREVIOUS MEETINGS: 1995-96: (semi-final) Leinster 14 Cardiff 23. 2003-4 Cardiff 19 Leinster 24.
FORMGUIDE: Leinster - 32-6 v Biarritz (h); 24-19 v Cardiff (a); 22-23 v Sale (h); 23-16 v Sale (a). Cardiff - 24-26 v Sale (a); 19-24 v Leinster (h); 20-35 v Biarritz (a); 21-20 v Biarritz (h).
LEADING TRY SCORERS: Leinster - Shane Horgan 2, John McWeeney 2. Cardiff - Tom Shanklin 2, Gareth Williams 2.
LEADING POINTS SCORERS: Leinster - Brian O'Meara 53. Cardiff - Iestyn Harris 33, Nick Robinson 16.
BETTING (Paddy Power): Leinster 1/16, Draw 25/1, Cardiff 13/2. Handicap odds (= Cardiff + 17 pts) 10/11 Leinster, 16/1 Draw, 10/11 Cardiff.
Forecast: Leinster to win.
The Ireland squad for the 2004 Six Nations Championship will be announced next Wednesday.
Leinster v Cardiff, Lansdowne Road, 7.45, On TV: Net 2, Sky Sports 1
