This season’s Heineken Cup culminates in the final between Irish sides Leinster and Ulster this weekend. The match takes place this Saturday, 19 May, at Twickenham, kick off 18.00 SA time.

This is the first time that two Irish teams have met in the final of the European Cup competition.

At this stage reigning champions Leinster, who are also through to the RaboDirect Pro12 final, may well be considered to be favourites. However, the very fact that they have been so successful in both competitions this season may come back to haunt them.

Ulster should be the fresher of the two teams having not played this weekend past. Leinster on the other hand, were involved in a tough Pro12 semi final match against Glasgow.

Inspirational Leinster centre Brian O’Driscoll (knee) and fellow Irish international, star fullback Rob Kearney (back), were not considered for last Saturday’s game. Both players were reported to have picked up these “niggles” during training in the build up to that game.

To make matters worse for Leinster, one can recall seeing three of their players limping off the field during this last game. Both Leinster’s starting centres for the match seemed injured, Gordon D’Arcy left the field fairly early in the game and was followed later by fellow centre Eoin O’Malley.

In the front row, loose head prop Cian Healy left the field after tracking back and making a crucial tackle on Chris Cusiter who had sliced through the Leinster defence with a sniping run. It must be mentioned though that Healy’s replacement fared well in that Leinster won a heel against the head in the very first scrum that followed Healy’s departure.

History

Leinster have played in numerous Heineken Cup tournaments since its inception in 1995. They have won the Cup twice after getting to two previous finals. Having won the Cup for the first time in the 2008/2009 season and again in the 2010/2011 season they are aiming to become the only club to win it three times in the space of four seasons.

Ulster have also had some success in the Heineken Cup, reaching the final and winning it once before. Their last appearance in the final was way back in the 1998/1999 season in which they triumphed in Dublin against French team Colomiers.

2011/2012 Season

Leinster

Leinster were in pool 3 during the initial group stages, with Glasgow, Bath and Montpellier making up the rest of the group. Leinster comfortably won the group, with a table topping 24 points, 12 ahead of their nearest rivals.

They then went on to defeat Cardiff Blues in the quarter finals, and Clermont Auvergne in the semi final. Full list of results follows:

Group stage

Montpellier  16 – 16 Leinster

Leinster  38 -13 Glasgow

Bath 13 – 18 Leinster

Leinster 52 – 27 Bath

Glasgow 16 –23 Leinster

Leinster 25 – 3 Montpellier

Quarter final

Leinster 34 – 3 Cardiff Blues

Semi final

Clermont Auvergne 15 – 19 Leinster

Ulster

Ulster were in pool 4 during the initial group stages, with Clermont Auvergne, Leicester and Aironi making up the rest of the group. Ulster got through to the knockout stages by ending second in the pool. Clermont and Ulster both ended up with 20 points, with Clermont having a far superior points differential.

Ulster then went to defeat Munster in the quarter final, and Edinburgh in the semi final. Full list of results follows:

Group stage

Ulster 16 – 11 Clermont Auvergne

Leicester 20 -9 Ulster

Ulster 31 – 10 Aironi

Aironi 20 – 46 Ulster

Ulster 41 –7 Leicester

Clermont Auvergne 19 – 15 Ulster

Quarter final

Munster 16 – Ulster 22

Semi final

Ulster 22 – 19 Edinburgh

We endeavour to report the teams once they are announced later in the week. At this stage it looks as if Leinster will wait until Friday to name their team. Ulster could name a handful of South African players in their team, with captain Johan Muller, Ruan Pienaar, Stefan Terblanche, Pedrie Wannenburg and Robbie Diack in their squad.