Seven years ago the arrival of the Begles front row - Serge Simon, Philippe Gimbert and Vincent Moscato - on a pitch was enough to traumatise even the most gnarled and battlehardened front-row veteran, sending prospective opponents scurrying to review medical policies.
Older, possibly wiser and hopefully for Leinster's sake more amenable, the one-time bad boys of French rugby are in Dublin. Now based at Stade Francais, Simon and Gimbert are the cornerstones of the front row while Moscato is named on the bench for tonight's European Cup tie at Donnybrook.
Shaven headed and sporting blood-smeared cuts as they emerged from the maelstrom of their dressing-room, their antics became legendary and they revelled in the notoriety.
Tales of head-butting the walls, each other or anything that came to hand ensured that their team-mates spent a great deal of time huddled in one corner, witnesses to this bizarre pre-match ritual.
Those who suspected slight exaggeration were painfully disabused of the notion. In 1991 Simon, Gimbert and Moscato laid waste, literally, to all before them as part of a formidable Begles pack that rampaged through the 1991 French Championship en route to victory.
The reward was a place in France's touring party to the US, a hastily-arranged trip negotiated after the original tour, to South Africa, fell through. The French saw it as the ideal preparation for the World Cup later that year.
That the aristocrats of European rugby made an impression on their first venture to the US is indisputable, the Americans recalling in glowing terms the panache and flair of their opponents' three-quarter line, the best they had ever seen.
The mark made by the Begles front row was less edifying. Having won a first cap, en bloc against Romania, they were selected as a unit once again for the first Test against the US: their hosts complained bitterly about the brutality of the front row, particularly Simon, ironically a doctor.
American hooker Tim Flay retired injured after 35 minutes the recipient of a broken nose. Simon never played for France again, having won two caps, but Gimbert and Moscato courted further disgrace.
Having played against Wales in the 1992 Five Nations Championship, they played a central role in the infamous France-England match at Parc des Princes on February 15th, 1992.
Former Irish referee, Stephen Hilditch, incurred the wrath of the partisan crowd in France's 31-13 defeat by sending off Moscato and Gregoire Lascube.
Gimbert flattened Brian Moore, and Jean Francois Tordo was fortunate not to receive the line as French discipline snapped. The abiding memory is Hilditch being escorted off the pitch by a phalanx of security men.
The authorities acted swiftly and 90 minutes after the final whistle Lascube and Moscato were banned until September 1st of that year; it prompted the latter to remark that he was off to take up boxing.
True to his word, Moscato became a professional boxer enjoying half a dozen fights before returning to rugby.
Simon (31), Moscato (33) and Gimbert (32) returned to their old stomping ground in Stade Francais' 39-28 victory over Begles-Bordeaux last week. Their presence tonight should add even greater colour to a potentially glittering occasion.
