For red to pierce the blue sky, Munster will need to be near-perfect 

Peter O'Mahony's presence ought to have added a few more to the visiting crowd but Rowntree's men still face the tallest of tasks

PURPLE PATCH: Munster head coach Graham Rowntree has seen his side bounce back from a March wobble but Leinster pose the sternest test. Pic: Darren Stewart/Sportsfile

There will be no way of telling until 5:30pm just how many Munster supporters have travelled to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium for this latest examination of their powers of belief. But the presence of captain Peter O’Mahony at the spearhead of their challenge to end Leinster’s dominance of this fixture will surely lure more of them to the capital today.

O’Mahony, along with hooker Diarmuid Barron, has been cleared to play having been injured in last Saturday’s BKT URC quarter-final win at Glasgow Warriors while Keith Earls has completed a Lazarus-like recovery from a groin injury that had initially appeared to have ended the veteran wing’s season. And in a week when head coach Graham Rowntree has had to plan without a quartet of definite non-starters in Malakai Fekitoa, Conor Murray, Calvin Nash and RG Snyman, that is surely some much-needed good news for the Munster boss.