Leinster v Milan

There should be no mistaking Leinster's vengeful mood at Donnybrook this afternoon when they seek to eradicate the memory of their Italian debacle a fortnight ago.

Two weeks older and a good deal wiser, Leinster ought to have the capacity to counter a strictly two-dimensional opposition - Milan's two options being a rumbling scrum and a rumbling maul off the line-out takes of Gianbattista Croci.

It hasn't helped Leinster's cause that Trevor Brennan has been ruled out, while Aaron Freeman's untimely return to Wales for family reasons means a relative step into the unknown for Hubie Kos. But, if he can hold his own line-out ball then anything else will be a bonus while the scrum, with a heavier back-row and props in their natural positions, looks a more resilient proposition.

"We've had two live sessions since the Milan game with Blackrock and Lansdowne," said Mike Ruddock yesterday, "so we've worked hard to compensate for the loss of two tight-heads." Ruddock, whose experience of seeing more talented sides beaten by teams with superior scrums dates back to when the famed Pontypool front-row undermined the Swansea sides of his playing days, will probably have maximised Leinster's resources to prevent a repeat of Calvisano.

There is, however, some encouragement to be taken from Calvisano. Whenever Leinster did get the ball to move wide and run at Milan, they exposed a decidedly brittle defence and last week's late double by Denis Hickie (albeit purely consolation) does mean that the three St Mary's strike runners have accumulated six tries between them.

Leinster will also be "a little bit more prepared" for Milan's lineout-cum-maul, and, with sheer anger the spur, the hope is that Leinster will rediscover the "no respect" attitude that underpinned their stirling defeat of Leicester three weeks ago.

The presence of a vocal 7,000 crowd that day did much to carry Leinster over the winning line, especially when they sensed Leicester might make them buckle late on. The memory of that encounter, and the sense of "occasion" which the Leinster Branch generates better than anyone else, ought to provide another motivational backdrop.

It's remarkable to think that this is almost certainly Leinster's last home game this season - at least in the European Cup. Even were Leinster to squeeze into the play-offs and, for that matter, the quarter-finals, both ties would be away from home.

The door is still ajar to the play-offs, albeit the back door and that fast closing. But, victory here and, a mite more demandingly, away to Toulouse, would probably earn Leinster a quarter-final play-off place as the best third place side, barring a Pontypridd win away to Bath next Saturday.

"We've still got to believe," says Ruddock, and so "these are our two Cup finals."

Leinster: K Nowlan; D Hickie, M Ridge, K McQuilkin (capt), J McWeeney; A McGowan, D O'Mahoney; R Corrigan, S Byrne, E Byrne, S Jameson, H Kos, D O'Brien, V Costello, S Rooney.

Milan: F Williams; M Ravazzolo, P Vaccari, M Tommasi, M Cuttitta; G Filizzola, F Gomez; G De Carli, C Orlandi, F Properzi (capt), L Mastrodomenico, G Croci, S Tassio, R Turner, S Racca.

Referee: E Morrison (England).

Formguide: Leinster - L W L L. Milan - L L W L.

Previous meetings: (95-96) Milan 21, Leinster 24; (97-98) Milan 33, Leinster 32.

Leading points scorers: Leinster - Alan McGowan 50. Milan - Fabio Gomez 15.

Leading try scorers: Leinster - John McWeeney 3. Milan - Fabio Gomez 3.