Starting XV LEICESTER

15 Geordan Murphy

Age: 31 Height: 1.85m (6ft 1in) Weight: 86kg (13st 7lb)

Ireland: 63 caps Leicester: 238 (82 tries)

Film character: Simon Templar aka The Saint. Many have played that role but Ian Ogilvy is more of a match physically and in demeanour than, say, the Roger Moore or Val Kilmer portrayals. Suave and sophisticated, the Saint is the epitome of laid-back cool but occasionally has to get down and dirty when required.

14 Scott Hamilton

Age: 29 Height: 1.91m (6ft 3in) Weight: 97kg (15st 3lb)

New Zealand: 2 caps Leicester: 22 (10 tries)

Film character: Joe Buck (Jon Voight) in the film Midnight Cowboy. We're not for one minute suggesting the New Zealander dresses like a rodeo cowboy in his spare time, but we do feel that there is a bit of a facial resemblance.

13 Dan Hipkiss

Age: 26 Height: 1.78m (5ft 10in) Weight: 92kg (14st 7lb)

England: 7 caps

Leicester: 107 (24 tries)

Film character: Harry Palmer (Michael Caine) from The Ipcress file because it sounds very like Hipkiss. IPCRESS stands for "Induction of Psycho-neuroses by Conditioned Reflex under Stress," just in case you were wondering. Hipkiss stands for a fine centre with neat feet in traffic.

12 Ayoola Erinle

Age: 29 Height: 1.91m (6ft 3in) Weight: 110kg (17st 4lb)

Leicester: 29 (5 tries)

Film character: Juba (Djimon Gaston Hounsou), pictured right, the Numidian hunter in the film Gladiator, confidant and friend of Russell Crowe's Maximus Decimus Meridius. Strong, agile and incredibly powerful, he is the ultimate team player and what he lacks in subtlety he makes up for in sheer physicality.

11 Alesana Tuilagi

Age: 28 Height: 1.85m (6ft 1in) Weight: 113kg (17st 13lb)

Samoa: 18 caps Leicester: 90 (32 tries)

Film character: Kevin Peter Hall, aka Predator. The 7ft 2in Hall replaced the original choice Jean Claude van Damme in the Predator suit but it's not for his massive height that he is chosen but just the similarity in dreadlocks between Tuilagi and Predator.

10 Sam Vesty

Age: 27

Height: 1.83m (6ft) Weight: 92kg (14st 6lb)

Leicester: 156 (15 tries)

Film character: Harpo Marx. The second-born of the Marx brothers, well-known by his trademarks: he wore a curly reddish wig, he never talked during performances, he frequently used props (such as a walking stick with a built-in bulb horn), and he played the harp. Vesty has curly red/blonde hair. QED.

9 Julien Dupuy

Age: 25 Height: 1.78m (5ft 10in) Weight: 78kg (12st 4lb)

Leicester: 30 (2 tries)

Film character: Well it's more a physical resemblance to Roger Vadim, a French journalist, author, actor, screenwriter, director, producer and the man who launched Brigitte Bardot's career in the film And God Created Woman. If that wasn't enough he was also married to Jane Fonda. Dupuy is French, a scrumhalf and eh...

1 Marcus Ayerza

Age: 26 Height: 1.85m (6ft 1in) Weight: 113kg (17st 11lb)

Argentina: 21 caps Leicester: 74 (4 tries)

Film character: Calvera (Eli Wallach) the baddie in the film the Magnificent Seven. Terrorises a small village in Mexico; in much the same way that Ayerza lies to dominate opposing tighthead props. There's every chance that the Argentine prop may have a sombrero in his wardrobe.

2 George Chuter

Age: 32 Height: 1.78m (5ft 10in) Weight: 101kg (15st 2lbs)

England: 21 caps Leicester: 179 (15 tries)

Film character: Lee van Cleef in For a Few Dollars More. More than happy to be the villain of the piece, Chuter shares Colonel Mortimer's (Van Cleef) sharp features and icy stare: hoping to add to his haul of bounty at Murrayfield.

3 Martin Castrogiovanni

Age: 27 Height: 1.88m (6ft 2in)

Weight: 122kg (19st 2lb)

Italy: 58 caps Leicester: 55 (3 tries)

Film character: It would have to be the musketeer Porthos (Gerard Depardieu) in the film Man in the Iron Mask. They're definitely two hairy babies. Did you know that in this version of the film prisoner number 64389000 is based on the number found at the Bastille?

4 Ben Kay

Age: 33 Height: 1.98m (6ft 6in) Weight: 121kg (19st)

England: 60 caps Leicester: 255 (11 tries)

Film character: Judge Dredd (Sylvester Stallone). The son of a High Court judge, Kay will seek to impose his own brand of justice on the Leinster pack. There would be an opportunity to use lots more judicial terms but we feel it would be injudicious to do so.

5 Tom Croft

Age: 23 Height: 1.96m (6ft 5in) Weight: 104kg (16st 4lb)

England: 13 caps Leicester: 62 (12 tries)

Film character: Elliot Croft, Lara's long lost (and entirely made-up) brother in the Tomb Raider series. All action, Croft is clearly a threat when it comes to raiding possession on the deck and in the air. It's all in the name.

6 Craig Newby

Age: 29 Height: 1.91 (6ft 3in) Weight: 100kg (15st 10lb)

New Zealand: 3 caps Leicester: 16

Film character: Keira Knightley/Jonathan Rhys Meyers in Bend it like Beckham: The first of Leicester's forwards to kick at goal in the semi-final shoot out, the Kiwi clearly backs himself with the boot. That, it should be stressed, is as far as the comparison with Knightley /Rhys Meyers stretches.

7 Ben Woods

Age: 26 Height: 1.85 (6ft 1in) Weight: 101kg (15st 12lb)

Leicester: 22 (1 try)

Film character: Chester Copperpot, an obscure background character in the film The Goonies, much like Woods would have been outside Newcastle before winning player of the season and moving to Leicester where he has gone from the fringe to central casting.

8 Jordan Crane

Age: 22 Height: 1.91m (6ft 3in)

Weight: 109kg (17st 2lb)

England: 1 cap

Leicester: 74 (16 tries)

Film character: Dolph Lundgren in Universal Soldier. As with Lundgren's character in the movie, Crane has enhanced abilities and superior strength. Whether he share's the UniSol's capacity to overheat in tense situations remains to be seen.