Teams often talk about making their home ground a "fortress" but when it comes to Connacht's record against Leinster at the Sportsground, it just doesn’t apply.
Pete Wilkins’ men have a fine recent home record, winning their last eight matches here, but Leinster love coming to Galway.
How could they not?
They have won on their last six visits west, and in just one of those ties, the Champions Cup last-16 clash in April 2022, the margin of victory was by less than a score, 26-21.
They’ve hit Connacht for 37, 42, 50, 45 points in four of the six wins. Even when the wind and rain is howling in from the Atlantic, it’s simply not a daunting place for them to come.
Connacht have conceded 22 tries already this season, which is the highest tally of a top-eight team ahead of this evening's BKT URC round seven clash (7.35pm, live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player).
Their last success over Leinster here came in April 2018 when they ran in seven tries in a 47-10 league victory.
But they began the season with three straight wins at the Sportsground, including a 34-26 success over current league leaders Glasgow, and will be loath to break that run without a hell of a fight this evening.
How they have rocked up this week in training following the trip back from South Africa, where they beat Sharks narrowly and lost heavily to Bulls, will be important.
"Everything we do in terms of travel is tailored towards getting everything right as soon as we can," said winger Diarmuid Kilgallen (above), who scored his fourth try of the season in the 53-27 defeat last Saturday.
"We’re not talking about fatigue. It’s not on the agenda for us. We’re professional athletes."
Including their trip to Edinburgh in round four, they’ve come off their mini tour with five points.
It’s possibly a number that Wilkins would have taken if offered beforehand but he’ll also feel they left a couple or three points behind.
And it has been some extremely basic schoolboy errors that he’ll have had cause to rue over the last three weeks.
Against Edinburgh, a 25-22 loss, their turned their back on a penalty close to the line; they failed to play to the whistle when conceding a try in the win at Sharks, and last weekend, when presented with a late penalty to work position for a fourth try and a bonus point, backchat saw the decision reversed.
Tightening up these "controllables" is crucial to their hopes for tonight and for the season to come.
Connacht are boosted by the return of Ireland star Mack Hansen, a man for the big stage. He’s one of seven changes to the starting XV.
"It's great to have him back because he's a great player and he brings a great buzz around the place," said lineout and maul coach John Muldoon, who famously captained Connacht to their 2016 Pro12 final victory over this evening’s opponents.
He added: "Over the years regardless of who has come here, with a home crowd and a bit of blood in the water you can always believe when you play at the Sportsground.
"If you were ever wanting a game to have after coming back from a defeat like we had last week in Pretoria along with the travel, there's nothing better to focus the mind than a derby.
"We know Leinster are a great team and have been for the last 15 or so years.
"This season is a bit of a change for them with Stuart Lancaster gone and Johnny Sexton retiring.
"[New senior coach] Jacques Nienaber has come in and no doubt will be bringing a lot of positive changes.
"We watched their game against Munster and Munster created chances against them which showed us there are opportunities when you play against them.
"The key is to take those chances."
After their opening-round loss to Glasgow, Leinster have gone on a five-match winning streak.
They have made 14 changes to the side that beat Munster, with centre Robbie Henshaw the man to keep his place.
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Leo Cullen has also decided not to give Ciarán Frawley another run at 10 after his excellent performance as an early replacement for Ross Byrne last weekend. Harry Byrne starts at out-half.
The game also marks the first involvement of South Africa’s World Cup-winning coach Nienaber (below) and it will be interesting to see early signs of his influence.
"He was pretty successful with South Africa and they’d obviously be a team that put a lot of pressure on the breakdown," this evening’s Leinster captain Scott Penny told RTÉ Sport.
"I’m hoping I can learn some stuff from him as regards to defensive breakdowns and also learning how they have made their defence so impressive over the last few years. It’ll be pretty good."
Last season's semi-final loss to Munster was Leinster's only defeat in their last 14 interpros but they will be pushed hard tonight.
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