Thursday night’s shocking scenes in Dublin city centre were still being digested yesterday but, while significant Garda resources have been required as a result in response, there was no suggestion that this would adversely affect this game’s operational needs and ability to go ahead.

A sellout may well be on the cards come 6.30pm and that needs context.

Leinster have hosted their neighbours a dozen times at the venue since it reopened in its current form. The 50,000 mark has been breached only three times, the last of them four seasons ago when the hosts had eight points to spare.

Only once, in March of 2014, has the sold out sign been required so it's fair to say that people are ready to move on from France and that the anticipation levels have rarely been higher for a meeting of these two since the blue half of the rivalry assumed prominence.

And therein lies the key.

Take away the meaningless filler that was a Rainbow Cup meeting in the RDS and Munster’s one-point win here in last May’s BKT URC semi-final was their first in eleven attempts against Leinster. A narrative that had become tired and predictable got its jolt.

“It was one of those wins we needed to get the monkey off the back, you know? It just showed everyone how we are moving forward as a team and in terms of that rivalry and pushing ourselves to be a better team,” said Munster’s Jeremy Loughman.

“We’re challenging for those big games, you know? We’re not just turning up. We’re not just a semi-final team. It was massive for that. It was a good morale-boost for everyone. We could see when we get the work right we can achieve those things that we are aiming at.” 

The importance of that win was franked when Graham Rowntree’s side went and won the league by beating the Stormers in Cape Town two weeks later, but it has to be said that the landscape is very different today than in Dublin for the semi-final.

Leinster had one eye on a Champions Cup final at home to La Rochelle seven days later at the time. That was reflected in a half-full stadium and in a host XV that featured just five 'current' Ireland internationals and a bench with three more.

The side chosen for this meeting will boast 14 of the crew that served Farrell so recently. Even Jordan Larmour, the odd man out in that sense, has 30 Test caps to his name while Rónan Kelleher will be called off the bench at some point.

Stacked is the word coming to mind.

Leo Cullen has been able to pick Robbie Henshaw and Jack Conan for the first time since they came back from the continent, Tadhg Furlong starts for the first time this term, and three academy players earn places on a bench that presents a 6/1 split.

Next stop the 7/1 so? Cullen got a chuckle out of that.

“There’s different selections that are going on at the moment and we’ve chopped and changed the team quite a bit over the last number of weeks. There’s still a bit of experimenting going on. We started the season with a 6/2 split as well.”

Jacques Nienaber would no doubt approve but there was still no word yesterday as to when the World Cup-winning South African coach would be reporting for duty. Another man absent from the fray today will be Munster’s new tighthead signing Oli Jager.

Rowntree has been able to bring Jean Kleyn back in for the first time since the second row lifted the Webb Ellis and his availability will allow Tom Ahern switch to blindside in the absences of the injured Peter O’Mahony and Jack O’Donoghue.

Diarmuid Barron has captained the side before but this will be the first time since O’Mahony officially relinquished the armband midweek and the hooker will have Stephen Archer alongside him as the latter becomes Munster’s record cap holder.

Alex Nankivell, the centre and summer signing from New Zealand, is not involved having featured all five times to date while Simon Zebo comes in for a seasonal bow and a first start at full-back for the province since 2018.

Munster’s away form, which stood up so impressively across five challenging trips at the back end of last season, has been far from imperious since the restart with a last-gasp draw in Treviso and a frustrating defeat in Belfast their lot on the road so far.

Last week’s grinding win in Limerick against the Stormers, the side they defeated in that URC decider, will have steeled them to the task of facing up to an opponent with revenge at the forefront of their minds but this is a step up again.

Opponents have been targeting their breakdown, and there have been issues at scrum time as well, and it was interesting to hear forwards coach Andy Kyriacou talk about intent and intensity and ‘staying in the fight’ earlier this week.

“If we do that we have a lot of talent on the field to get us something from the game,” he said.

Much the same applies for Leinster, of course. They have had the easiest of rides since losing their opener in Glasgow and while Munster match up favourably at half-back and in the second row, Leinster look superior in most other departments.

Leinster have the will after last May's defeat. They should have their way too.