Leinster face the toughest test of their Heineken Cup defence when they take on ASM Clermont Auvergne in Bordeux on Sunday, kick-off 3.00pm.
Last season's path from the pool stages to the final consisted of two Dublin games, against Leicester and Toulouse, and the final in Cardiff was possibly as close to a "home" fixture as they could have hoped for outside of Ireland.
Now they must go into the lion's den in Stade Chaban-Delmas, not Clermont's home venue but it still poses a formidable challenge. The estimation is that travelling Blues fans will be outnumbered ten to one.
Leinster's single-mindedness in going about their tasks will be a telling factor. In the last two seasons they have visited France three times and on each occasion have returned with a box ticked.
In last year's pool stages they came away with a losing bonus point against Sunday's opponents, and easily accounted for Racing Metro. In their first game this season they secured a share of the spoils against Montpellier.
The Heineken Cup champions, in contrast to the national side, know they can produce the goods over there.
While Leinster's performance against the Cardiff Blues in the quarter-final was a thing of beauty it was a dead rubber by half-time.
They'll find they won't get anything like the room to reproduce some of those moves, and with Isaac Boss in ahead of Eoin Reddan at scrum-half they may not be as quick to go wide on Sunday.
ASM have built up a talented squad and are, like Leinster, at the top end of their domestic league. Morgan Parra, Wesley Fofana and Julien Malzieu are all capable of causing harm in the backline while Aurélien Rougerie may be tempted to switch into inside centre for some moves to test out Gordon D'Arcy.
The Wexford man's traditional gainline-breaking bursts have been conspicuous by their rarity this season and when Clermont look across the rest of the Blues backline they will identify the inside centre channel as their best hope of making ground in this area.
While David Skrela is out, his replacement, Brock James, was on fire when they beat Saracens in the quarter-final but the Australian is also capable of having a stinker.
Joe Schmidt's men would be wise to get to him early, or late. And if Johnny Sexton starts well with the boot he can pile more pressure on the former Western Force out-half.
The battle up front is a mouth-watering prospect and it is hard to see either side bulldozing the other for the 80 minutes.
The jousts between World Cup winner Brad Thorn and ex-Leinster man Nathan Hines, and between Sean O'Brien - by his standards off form this season - and Julien Bonnaire will go along way to setting the tempo of the tie. Add the volatile Jamie Cudmore to the mix and the forward battle should be irresistible.
There is no doubt that the Irish province's level of professionalism, spirit and refined talent can be too much for any team on any given day.
The O'Driscoll factor is another string to their bow and the centre is capable of coming up with something ridiculous that no team can counter.
Even his presence off the ball can create space for others as defenders try to close him down early. Those outside him today are more than capable of taking advantage.
Clermont have a couple of external factors in their favour. They'll not have been exposed to the media hype that surrounds Leinster, so, unlike Cardiff in the last round, they won't know they are supposed to lose, always a danger.
Vern Cotter's men will also have the best part of 30,000 fanatics to spur them on - the 16th man can work for non-Irish teams too.
History shows that retaining the Heineken Cup is an almost impossible task, Leicester (2001 and 2002) being the only side to achieve this feat.
Leinster have the tools but the force tends to be against defending champions as those without silverware are hungrier than those who have just fed.
Verdict: Clermont by four
ASM Clermont Auvergne v Leinster, Heineken Cup, Sunday 29 April, Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeux, kick-off 3.00pm.
Referee: Wayne Barnes
What they're saying:
Sean O'Brien (Leinster): "Clermont are flying high at the moment in the Top 14 and look to have real quality in their squad. They have power right across the board, with a huge pack and if they get the chance to impose themselves they will dominate."
Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont): "We have been building for a number of years. Ever since we won the Top 14 title in 2010 we have been better in the big fixtures. We know that we can beat the best European teams."
Leinster: (15-9): Rob Kearney, Isa Nacewa, Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Luke Fitzgerald, Jonathan Sexton, Isaac Boss.
(1-8): Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss, Mike Ross, Leo Cullen, Brad Thorn, Sean O'Brien, Shane Jennings, Jamie Heaslip.
Replacements (16-23): Sean Cronin, Heinke van der Merwe, Nathan White, Devin Toner, Kevin McLaughlin, Eoin Reddan, Ian Madigan, Fergus McFadden.
ASM Clermont Auvergne: (15-9): Lee Byrne, Sitiveni Sivivatu, Aurélien Rougerie, Wesley Fofana, Julien Malzieu, Brock James, Morgan Parra.
(1-8): Lionel Faure, Benjamin Kayser, Davit Zirakashvili, Jamie Cudmore, Nathan Hines, Julien Bonnaire, Alexandre Lapandry, Elvis Vermeulen.
Replacements (16-23): Ti'i Paulo, Vincent Debaty, Daniel Kotze, Julien Pierre, Julien Bardy, Ludovic Radoslavjevic, Regan King, Jean-Marcel Buttin.
