Nobody is really expecting the Sharks to beat Leinster today but very few fancied Connacht last night either.
Leo Cullen has plenty on his plate and while there may not be blood in the water, this fixture and where it falls in Leinster's season, and the removal of nine players from the side that beat Toulouse, might provide enough chum to draw the attention of a few hungry Sharks.
Leinster beat the South Africans by 20 points when the sides met in round four of the regular season back in October.
But the 54-34, eight-try to five win, doesn't tell the full story.
A recap: Cullen loaded up his team with Johnny Sexton, Robbie Henshaw, Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan and Ryan Baird, while Garry Ringrose came on after 21 minutes for Jordan Larmour.
The Sharks, then under coach Sean Everitt who stepped down in November, were playing the third game of their Euro tour having flown from Italy to Wales, picking up wins against Zebre and Dragons, all minus their Springboks contingent.
They gave as good as they got in the opening half, sharing six tries equally with Leinster and trailing by just a point at the break. Ringrose came up with two of the home side’s five-pointers.
An incredible try-of-the-season contender by Thaakir Abrahams had the visitors within a point and it wasn’t until the 60th minute that Leinster began to pull away.
Henshaw, Rob Russell and Sexton scored tries before Aphelele Fassi struck from long-range for a consolation.
The Sharks were down to 14 after having Rohan Janse van Rensburg sent off when John McKee put the icing on the cake with a late score.
Today they are without South Africa stars Siya Kolisi and Eden Etzebeth but line out with Springboks Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Ox Nche and Bongi Mbonambi, making eight changes to the team from October.
A very relaxed Gerbrandt Grobler was in good form when he sat down to talk to media the day after the travelling Cell C Sharks party took two separate airplanes to travel in business class to Dublin for the business end of the season.
The team, under stand-in coach Neil Powell, trained in Durban on Monday and Tuesday and in Dublin on Wednesday before taking a day off on Thursday.
How about that spread of 17 points?
"It's all right, usually those scores are predicted by people who don't even play the game," the second row, who played for Munster in the 2017-18 season, tells RTÉ Sport.
"The players, Leinster players will tell you that too, it doesn't really mean anything to the guys playing the game. It's more for people who want to put bets on or whatever, who cares?
"What would you do if you were in our situation, nobody gives you a chance, back against the wall, if you lose, you lose. Why not go for it, why not have fun? Why not believe?"
Even if the last question is rhetorical, the Sharks don’t need to look far for a real-life example.
It was only 11 months ago that the Vodacom Bulls grabbed Leinster by the horns and pulled off a shock semi-final victory at the RDS.
The Bulls had a six-day turnaround when they rocked up in Dublin 4 and had to overcome a 20-point underdog status.
In the end, Leinster, who had trounced Glasgow the week before, lost 27-26 with Cian Healy’s consolation try coming two minutes into overtime.
"We are all just human and mistakes happen, errors happen, on the day anything can happen," says the lock, who spent time at Gloucester and Stade Francais before joining the Sharks in 2021.
"We did speak about the Bulls and how it happened and I'm sure Leinster will be cognisant. All we can hope for is just delivering our best and looking for the rub of the green."
The last sighting of the Sharks, who announced former Ireland scrum coach John Plumtree as head coach for next season, came as they blew a 19-point lead against Munster in the final match of the regular season in Durban.
That draw ended their chance of seventh place, which, as it turns out, would most likely have been enough for Champions Cup qualification, but winning the URC outright would see them dine at the top table table next season.
"It's tough not making it but having other teams making it below you," added the 31-year-old (above).
"If you look at how the season played out, we are to blame, we can always do better. We take it on the chin, we're [most likely] playing in the Challenge Cup next year, which is not ideal.
"We did speak about [winning this tournament] and why not?
"We've packed our bags for two weeks and everyone did. It's not like we are just coming here to go back on Monday.
"[Drawing] against Munster the way we did was tough, it's not what we wanted but a lot of players learned a lot of big lessons.
"We will only know how much we learned when it happens again so it's been an interesting season for us, it can only improve.
"That's rugby, if you look at the ball and it's the same thing - it can bounce in any direction you want, you've just got to adapt."
That ability to adapt will be key for Leinster too and taking nine players out of the line-up that won last week, and 27,000 fans (if today’s match reaches the 19,000 capacity) out of earshot will test their reserves, physically and emotionally.
There’s an ultimate prize waiting down the line for Leinster in the form of a Heineken Champions Cup final and maybe the Sharks won't get a better shot at catching a big fish.
No harm in bringing a bigger boat, just in case.
Listen to the RTÉ Rugby podcast on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
Watch the BKT URC quarter-finals, Leinster v Sharks (5pm) and Glasgow Warriors v Munster (7.35pm), on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, follow a live blog on the RTÉ News app or RTÉ.ie/Sport or listen to live commentary on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
