A novel Connacht-Munster derby at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park probably didn't need much more spice added to the mix but with both teams treating it as "must-win", it’s set to be another full-blooded affair.
Coming down the final stretch, the URC table is congested. With five rounds left, just five points separate fifth-place Cardiff and Lions in 13th.
The hosts, in 12th on 31 points, could even leapfrog sixth-placed Munster with a win in Mayo.
The teams met on the opening day of the season with Munster scraping a 35-33 victory, and to show how much home advantage plays in this fixture, each of the last seven games were won by the hosts.
"They’re our closest neighbours and probably our biggest rivals," says Connacht scrum-half and Galway native Caolin Blade.
"So it’s going to be a huge game, an interpro, a must-win for us, a must-win for them. If we beat them we potentially go ahead of them, if they beat us, they stay ahead.
"In Castlebar, in MacHale Park in front of 26,000 people, if you’re not getting excited for this, you’re doing something wrong."
The game sold out just a few days after tickets went on sale, demonstrating the appetite for top-level rugby outside of Galway.
Earlier this week, Mayo football manager Kevin McStay spoke to the squad about their temporary move and the history of the stadium.
"I’d never met him before," says Blade, who was part of the wider Ireland Six Nations squad but didn’t add to his three caps.
"He spoke to us just giving us a bit of history and where he is from, and MacHale Park and Mayo.
"As a Galway man, I was a bit reserved! Nah, I was delighted.
"It was very interesting and he just said our home at the weekend is MacHale Park and he made us feel extremely excited and extremely welcome to go up to Mayo, especially as a Galwayman.
"I wouldn’t even have thought I’d be playing anywhere else but in the Dexcom.
"But look, I’m so excited. I’ve actually never been to MacHale Park (below).
"As much as I follow GAA I’ve never strayed too far from Pearse Stadium, so I can’t wait to get up there on Friday for the captain’s run and see it."
Blade, who was "heavily involved" in the GAA until the age of 20, playing football with Monivea Abbey and hurling with Abbeyknockmoy, was asked about the Mayo links to the Westerners, who pride themselves on representing the five counties of the province.
The 30-year-old said: "Heff [hooker Dave Heffernan] is quite reserved. To be honest, I don't know does Heff even watch football. He might makes out he does.
"A few of the New Zealanders that have come over have taken a fancy to Mayo and they've all bought jerseys.
"I know Shamus Hurley-Langton has one, I know Bundee [Aki] has one, I know [former captain] Jarrad Butler when he was here had one.
"So they might have some affiliation with Mayo. But I won't be putting on a Mayo jersey yet!"
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