Soon, on a mysterious Island, a great long-running saga will come to an end.
I’m sure I could have gone a lot further to link the Lost finale to the Magners League final but out of respect to non-fans of the show I’ll leave it there!
What can I say. Even though Ireland fell short in the Six Nations and Leinster did likewise in the Heineken Cup, thanks to the new playoff format in the Magners League, we have a perfect chance to cap off the season on a high note this Saturday at the OarDeeEss AND to make it a perfect eleven for eleven at home in the competition.
But of course, there’s a flip side. The star-studded Ospreys are coming to town, and after the success of their blue-clad countrymen, they certainly won’t cross the Irish Sea just to make up the numbers.
Well, I’m expecting a carnival atmosphere in Ballsbridge, I’m expecting enough travelling support to have some craic but not enough to drown us out, I’m expecting an opposition up for a battle.
I also expect a performance by the home side on a par with those that got us to this stage in the competition. Not too much to ask surely?
And as if the Grand-ness of the occasion wasn’t enough, we Leinster fans also have an opportunity to witness the end of an era for the province, with several key figures taking their bow. First there’s CJ van der Linde. As for players who have served us honourably over the years, there’s Girvan Dempsey, Malcolm O’Kelly and Bernard Jackman. Last, and certainly not least, there’s the man who no matter what happens on Saturday will surely be the most successful head coach Leinster has ever seen, Michael Cheika.
Though we want a good contest, we’ll also want to see them all go off on a high.
Bring it on. Hope to see you there.
