Leinster will arrive in Thomond Park Stadium knowing that a loss will almost certainly mean they’ll miss out on a lucrative ‘home’ semi spot.
And a measure of their intent can be gleaned by their full strength selection albeit without the injured Johnny Sexton who is given a further week to recover. Munster, with bigger fish to fry in a fortnight, rest a few of their leading lights, such as Ronan O'Gara, Wian du Preez and Donnacha Ryan.
Leinster are just two points clear of fourth placed Scarlets and the expected home win for Ospreys will see the title holders move to within a point of the side they beat in last year's final so really there's only one result that will suffice today for the D4 side.
It's a game that has some fascinating match ups most noticeably at out-half where Ian Keatley faces off with Ian Madigan, a place on the Ireland tour on offer while there are a number of players, all in the Munster red who can impress the watching Lions coach Warren Gatland.
Munster: F Jones; D Hurley, C Laulala, J Downey, S Zebo; I Keatley, C Murray; D Kilcoyne , D Varley, S Archer; Donncha O’Callaghan, P O’Connell capt; P O’Mahony, T O’Donnell , J Coughlan. Replacements: M Sherry, J Cronin, BJ Botha, B Holland, Dave O’Callaghan, C Sheridan, JJ Hanrahan, I Dineen.
Leinster: R Kearney; D Kearney, B O'Driscoll, G D'Arcy, I Nacewa; I Madigan, I Boss; C Healy, S Cronin, M Ross; L Cullen capt, Q Roux; S O'Brien, S Jennings, J Heaslip. Replacements: R Strauss, J McGrath, M Bent, D Toner, K McLaughlin, J Cooney, A Goodman, A Conway.
Referee: N Owens.