Leinster and Munster are set to renew Irish rugby's biggest rivalry this Saturday when the two sides travel to Croke Park for what will be one of club rugby's most attended league fixtures ever.
Saturday's trip North of the Liffey will mark just the second time these two sides have met in the country's biggest stadium, with the first coming in Leinster's famous win over Munster in the 2009 Heineken Cup semi-final.
The game will see a so-far unbeaten Leinster head into the showdown as heavy favourites, with Munster's worsening injury crisis adding to what was already the steepest of tasks for Graham Rowntree's men.
While recent years have seen Leo Cullen's men dominate the fixture with 12 wins in their last 15 encounters, in bygone days it was Munster who enjoyed all the joy in the fixture, dominating their near rivals until that pivotal day in Croke Park 2009 when the tables turned.
23 May 2009; Leinster's Stan Wright, left, and Bernard Jackman celebrate with the cup. Heineken Cup Final, Leinster v Leicester Tigers, Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh, Scotland. Picture credit: Ray McManus / SPORTSFILE
Bernard Jackman on getting trampled by the Munster pack
While today Bernard Jackman might be one of the most recognisable faces on the rugby punditry circuit, this week's clash had the hooker reminiscing on the times when he was a Leinster man desperately trying to turn the province's fortune in the famous rivalry.
Recalling his most memorable moments from the interprovincial derbies on the RTÉ Rugby Pod, Jackman detailed the hilarious story of him getting trampled by a Munster pack in Thomond Park much to the satisfaction of Nigel Owens, with Jackman even telling listeners that Paul O'Connell had no choice but to stand in and stop the encounter out of pity.
So probably 2000, I just joined Leinster and we were getting killed by their forwards in the old Thomond Park...Munster catch a line out on the 22 and they start to mall us up the field. Obviously as a hooker I'm in the tram, but after about 15 metres and the crowd going mad, I say right I gotta collapse this right.
So I go in and do the old deck chair to try collapse it, fail, fail miserably.
Next thing I'm on the ground and Munster have basically 16 feet just going up and down on my back. I get a shoe-in which I completely deserve and unfortunately this is the one time the mall doesn't go forward so they're just stationery over me.
I can't remember who the referee was, I think it was Nigel Owens, was delighted to see me getting the treatment I deserved and it saved him having to give away a penalty.
Eventually, I can just hear O'Connell shouting in the mall "That's it lads, he's had enough", and they all stop and they move on then they go forward and. It was very nice of Paul, but in the middle of the game you actually don't want pity from them.
While this weekend's clash will undoubtedly be fierce in nature, it's unlikely to see the type of old-school rugby Jackman recalls so fondly.
However, if Munster can channel the renowned ferocity of the sides who have gone before them, an upset could very well be on the cards in front of the Hogan Stand. Although Leinster might be Saturday's favourites, Munster have developed a healthy habit of landing their blows on the biggest of stages, with their last win coming in the 2022/23 URC final when they handed Leinster a crushing defeat in the Aviva Stadium.
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