Former Ireland and Ulster star Stephen Ferris believes that Munster can upset the odds and overcome Leinster in Saturday's Guinness Pro14 final.
Munster are the underdogs going into the game and have really struggled in recent times against Leo Cullen's men.
However, Ferris believes that there are factors which could turn the tie in Munster’s favour, not least the absence of fans from the RDS as Covid-19 restrictions continue.
Ferris also warned that the sudden return of the Irish international contingent to the Leinster squad could upset the harmony within Cullen’s side, while Munster will be eager to see CJ Stander leave with some silverware.
Speaking on Game On, Ferris said: "Leinster have won the last five games against Munster. I was chatting to Alan Quinlan during the week and he was saying that if it’s six losses in a row, that’s in the history books, it’s never actually been done before.
"So that’s an incentive for Leinster but it’s also an incentive for Munster to not let that happen and to get absolutely stuck into Leinster into their own back yard.
"Of course there’s no fans there, nobody spilling out of the pubs in Ballsbridge towards the RDS so I think that will be playing in Munster’s favour for sure.
"Teams will be announced tomorrow around lunchtime and there’s lots of anticipation around team selection, especially for Leinster because there have been so many guys away with Ireland and so many guys who have put in 80 minute performances week-in, week-out.
"Somebody like Michael Bent, who has played maybe 90% of the Pro14 games, and all of a sudden Andrew Porter and Tadhg Furlong are coming back into the mix."
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Munster have not claimed a trophy since winning the then Magners League in 2011 and Ferris believes that they can end that drought this weekend.
"Leo Cullen’s going to have a hard job on his hands to keep everybody happy and you know what? I fancy Munster for this," he said.
"They have a really good squad, they’re playing some entertaining rugby and I think that centre partnership of Damien De Allende and Chris Farrell could upset a few Leinster players and a few Leinster fans."
Follow Leinster v Munster (kick-off 5pm, Saturday) via our live blog on RTE.ie and the RTÉ News app or listen live on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport.
