Donal Lenihan outlines where the game will be won and lost.

There will be a strange dynamic surrounding Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 semi-final between Leinster and Munster at the RDS. It’s been a difficult ten days for both Irish provinces but for different reasons.

Steffan Thomas rates the players of both sides of the Heinken Champions Cup final.

A fifth win for Leinster tomorrow will make them the most successful side in the history of the competition.

Stuart Lancaster needs no introduction to the dangers Leinster will be facing when they go toe-to-toe with Saracens in Saturday’s heavyweight Heineken Champions Cup final.

This time 12 months ago, Munster and Leinster felt bulletproof as they approached their respective Champions Cup semi-final deciders against Racing 92 and Scarlets, with both squads densely fortified with players from Ireland’s all-conquering Grand Slam team.

Saracens would have hoped for a quieter week than the one just gone but Maro Itoje, for one, is aiming to block out the outside noise against old foes Munster in the Champions Cup semi-final on Saturday in Coventry.

Johann van Graan gave no indication about the quality of his Sunday night’s sleep but given the Munster boss watched a playback of Saracens’ seven-try demolition of Glasgow Warriors before bedtime, a fit of the night terrors would have been understandable.

Schalk Brits was sipping tequila in Ibiza when he first received contact from South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus asking whether he was interested in playing England.

Few games present themselves on a canvas decorated with such broad and simplistic brush strokes as Sunday’s meeting between Leinster and Saracens.

Saracens kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the Champions Cup knock-out phase after demolishing Northampton.

The odds are stacked against them but Munster wouldn’t have it any other way. Donal Lenihan looks at three areas that will shape today’s semi-final.