Leinster v Agen( Lansdowne Road 5.30pm On TV: RTÉ 2, Sky Sports 1) The glossy poster shows six players in a compendium of action shots but it is the two in the foreground, Agen's outrageously gifted Fijian maverick Rupeni Caucaunibuca and the Leinster and Ireland captain Brian O'Driscoll that capture the appeal of a clash billed as L'Heure de Vérité.
This particular advertisement is being employed to entice supporters to the Stade Armandie this day next week, but the suggestion the Hour of Truth is imminent is equally true of today's game at Lansdowne Road.
Agen arrive in Dublin in rude health in terms of position in Pool Two if not of playing personnel.
Two victories in the opening stanza of the Heineken European Cup, including a superb win over Gloucester in the cauldron that is Kingsholm, guaranteed their pre-eminence as the only unbeaten team among the quartet.
The tendency among French clubs is to offer a pared-down version of their resources for foreign duty. But Agen don't have that luxury as injuries deny them wing Dave Vainqueur, former French international outhalf François Gelez, number eight Thomas Soucaze and Mathieu Barrau.
The inexperienced 22-year-old Sylvain Mirande will partner the South African Conrad Stoltz, formerly of Stade Français, in midfield.
Gelez's absence is offset by the presence of Jerome Miquel, his team's leading scorer (20), while much is expected of another South African, Wilhelm Stoltz, a 206-centimetre secondrow.
The compulsion to zone in on Caucaunibuca is understandable; he is an outrageously gifted wing who even if he could do with eating a few more salads is still arguably the most lethal finisher in world rugby. The man has run 10.9 seconds for 100 metres, hand-timed, on grass, in boots.
The fact the 26-year-old is carrying a few extra pounds - his pre-season was curtailed by a virus that saw him delayed at home in Fiji on medical grounds - doesn't seem to reduce his impact.
For the past two seasons he has been voted France's player of the year and in both of Agen's European games this season he won the man-of-the-match accolade without scoring a try.
Given an inch he'll wreak havoc. A kind of day-glo orange (away jerseys) colossus, he is a totem for his team and certainly won't be confined to patrolling the orthodox wing corridors close to the touchline.
He's likely to be given a roving capacity, so those Leinster players who have been mercilessly teasing Shane Horgan all week might find themselves confronted with the same issues.
Fortunately, Horgan's form has been excellent, the Leinster man maturing into a world-class Test player who has adapted to life on the wing.
It's important Leinster don't become obsessed with "Caucau", as in fullback and French international Pepito Elhorga, Agen possess another silken runner.
The decision to start club captain and wing-cum-centre Luc Lafforgue ensures the French can trade up if the need arises.
The Agen pack is something of a league of nations, populated by a Samoan, a Kiwi, a South African, an Argentinian, two Romanians and two Frenchmen.
The most famous constituent of the eight is the former All Black tighthead prop Kees Meeuws, while in an Irish context flanker Lucas Ostiglia has been in Dublin before, with Argentina.
The 18-stone-plus Samoan hooker Ace Tiatia has played most of his rugby in the Guinness Premiership and offers a bruising presence around the pitch.
The temptation to highlight Agen's dismal record on the road this season - one win in 10 matches - is tempered by the knowledge that the victory came in this competition against Gloucester.
In deciphering Agen's mindset through various player commentaries about this match, it's impossible to escape the suggestion that the French club are pretty confident of winning on home soil in seven days' time and that a losing bonus point would suffice from today's venture.
They are not going to roll over and if encouraged could prove very difficult opponents. But for Leinster a good start would be half the battle.
The return of Girvan Dempsey at fullback facilitates a change at outhalf, with Christian Warner preferred to Andy Dunne, the latter dropping out of the match 22 having started against Ulster.
Dempsey will take the place kicks and if Warner were to get injured would probably move to outhalf.
Coach Michael Cheika has plumped for Kieran Lewis and Luke Fitzgerald as outfield cover.
Cook Islands tighthead prop Stanley Wright makes his Leinster debut, having arrived in Ireland on the recommendation of the Auckland and Pacific Islands scrum coach Mike Casey.
Fosi Pala'amo's injury was unfortunate timing in every respect, and those who blamed him for Leinster's scrum problems against Ulster might care to rewind the video.
Stephen Keogh gets a deserved start after a high-profile cameo as a replacement the last day.
The premise for a Leinster victory is reasonably simple, based on solid set pieces and Warner taking responsibility for running the game at number 10. The Australian has to vary his game, kicking judiciously and buying into the unflappable belief of the man for whom he deputises, Felipe Contepomi. If fortune favours the cavalier, then no one does it better than Leinster.
LEINSTER: G Dempsey; S Horgan, B O'Driscoll (capt), G D'Arcy, D Hickie; C Warner, C Whitaker; R McCormack, B Blaney, S Wright; T Hogan, M O'Kelly; S Keogh, K Gleeson, J Heaslip. Replacements: R Corrigan, B Jackman, O Finegan, C Jowitt, G Easterby, K Lewis, L Fitzgerald.
AGEN: P Elhorga; M Ahotaeiloa, S Mirande, C Stoltz, R Caucaunibuca; J Miquel, N Morlaes (capt); E Guinazu, A Tiatia, K Meeuws; W Stoltz, S Socol; M Lievremont, L Ostiglia, O Fonua. Replacements: L Carberry, A Galasso, A Badenhorst, F Culine, A Fulton, M Faaletino, L Lafforgue.
Referee: W Barnes(England).
Previous meetings: None.
Results so far: Leinster- beat Gloucester (h) 37-20; lost to Edinburgh (a) 25-24. Agen- beat Edinburgh (h) 19-17; beat Gloucester (a) 32-26.
Leading points scorers: Leinster- Felipe Contepomi 31; Agen- Jerome Miquel 20.
Leading try scorers: Leinster- Girvan Dempsey 2; Agen- J Narjissi, A Mignardi, T Soucaze, P van Niekerk 1 each.
Verdict: Leinster to win.
