More than bragging rights at stake in derby duel

As big as this fixture has been in the professional era, there was a time when the twice annual dust-up between Leinster and Munster was more than the sum of its parts, a prelude to a greater objective.

This season, the Champions Cup quarter-finals may still be a week away but they are of little interest to these two once-proud provinces.

Leinster and Munster are fallen champions, no longer able to punch above their weight in Europe as they did between 2006 and 2012 when the Heineken Cup was brought back to Ireland a remarkable five times in seven seasons.