Tonight will tell Stuart Lancaster a lot.

"It's hard to put into words the last few days."

Stuart Lancaster has backed his Leinster double winners to lay down a big marker for Ireland’s World Cup hopes next year when they take on Australia over three Tests this summer.

IT WAS James Lowe who voiced what everyone at Leinster must have been thinking last weekend when, with Munster beaten, he suggested that the stars might be aligning for a fairytale ending with today’s Guinness PRO14 final.

He was never going to sit this one out.

Leinster won’t contemplate carrying any passengers for sentimental reasons in this Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 final but signs are that they will welcome back at least three influential leaders from injury for the showdown with Scarlets.

The target on Leinster’s back has just got bigger. That’s the way it has always been for champions. First up, it’s Munster gunning for a win over the newly crowned European champions that would propel them into a third Guinness Pro 12/14 final in four seasons.

Leinster - 15 Racing 92 - 12

Nacewa was the Leinster hero in his final game for the province.

Ollie Campbell (Old Belvedere RFC/Leinster and Irish Triple Crown hero, British and Irish Lion in 1983)

Simon Lewis profiles the men chasing glory — and a record-equalling fourth European title - in Spain this evening 

In the No 11 shirt, the present and the past. In the No 14 shirt, the present and the future.

Nick McCarthy says he’ll be ready to rock if he’s selected by Leinster in next month’s Champions Cup final in Bilbao.

The duo are among six players departing Leinster this season.

Of the four provinces, Leinster should be the one least in need of imported talent.

Leinster have admitted to some surprise at the suggestion from Welsh legend Shane Williams that Isa Nacewa is a weak link who can be exposed defensively by the Scarlets in today’s Champions Cup semi-final.

Every position in the back line has been filled by Leinster’s Isa Nacewa, including scrum-half where he excelled in one game last season when Luke McGrath was sinbinned. The veteran New Zealander even scored a try while holding that fort, writes Brendan O’Brien

Montpellier 14 - Leinster 23: To think, just a few months back, this was the Pool of Death to kill all other Pools of death.

Let’s start off by applying some perspective here.

Leo Cullen couldn’t help but cast his mind back to this week two years ago.

Fergus McFadden believes Leinster’s current strength-in-depth is such that it trumps even the 2009-2012 era, when the province dominated the European club scene and claimed three Heineken Cups in just four seasons.

A stunning 60-metre try from Academy star Jordan Larmour sealed a bonus-point win for Leinster to hand Johann van Graan his first defeat as Munster head coach at Thomond Park last night.

Keith Earls’ admiration for the next generation of Irish talent was obvious when he sat down to chat prior to Ireland’s latest trio of November internationals.

Leinster 22 Exeter Chiefs 17: There are any number of arbitrary ways to measure a team’s progress, but it seemed the obvious thing to think back to Leinster’s semi-final loss to Clermont Auvergne last April as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday evening.

Leinster overcame the reigning English champions and league leaders for the second time in six days this evening.

All games carry a narrative, but the storyline tends to be written in a particularly prominent bold type in the run up to Christmas when the Champions Cup delivers its glut of back-to-back fixtures.

Leo Cullen could have landed on any number of superlatives to describe Jonathan Sexton as he stood in departures at Dublin Airport yesterday deliberating on the out-half’s return for this Champions Cup engagement in Glasgow.

Leinster see six changes to their side while Munster make three changes.

Leinster weathered the huge hits and the heavy bruising from Montpellier’s giants on Saturday – but the five points are what will leave the biggest mark after a winning start to their Champions Cup challenge.

Leinster are the side with three stars on their shirt, as triple winners of the European Cup, but Leo Cullen believes Montpellier boss Vern Cotter is under greater pressure to win this season’s title than he is.

Leinster overcame the absence of captain Isa Nacewa and Jamison Gibson-Park to record a convincing 31-10 victory over Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth.

Three tries in eight stunning minutes helped Leinster to a bonus point win over Cardiff Blues at the RDS.

It took a while in coming, but this was a more than decent start to the new Guinness Pro14 season for Leo Cullen’s Leinster as they emerged deserved winners over the Dragons.

Leinster 16 Scarlets 27: And, just like that that, Leinster’s season is over.

Scarlets reached their first ever Guinness PRO12 final after defeating much-fancied Leinster 27-15 at the RDS despite having Steff Evans sent off before half-time.

Isa Nacewa is convinced Leinster’s young guns can only benefit from their Champions Cup semi-final heartbreak last month as they try and go at least one step further in this season’s Guinness PRO12 play-offs.

Champions Cup

Clemont and Leinster have served up some cracking spectacles when their paths have crossed in Europe.