Big-match preview: This is no ordinary Champions Cup semi-final so Leinster must deal with the sense of occasion at Croke Park

His choice of words was unfortunate, but Northampton Saints back Tommy Freeman wasn’t far wrong when he said that the English team needed to come out with “all guns blazing” at Croke Park this evening.

It is in their interest to make life as uncomfortable as possible for the de facto home team on Jones’ Road, to turn what should be a celebration into a cauldron of pressure and make them doubt that they can live up to the hype.

There’s no doubt this feels like something different.

Yesterday, Leinster came out to do their captain’s run training session with a bag of O’Neills balls and did a kick-around. Later, Northampton came out with hurleys and did a run-through with a couple of Kilmacud Crokes players to get a sense of the sport that’s normally played here.

Croke Park adds a different dimension to a game that Leinster should win on paper.

If this match was across town at Lansdowne Road, it would be treated like another routine European semi-final for a team that rarely skips a beat against English opposition.

And yet, the sense of occasion will seep into the performance and it’s up to them to make sure it’s a positive thing.

​It would take something monumental from the Premiership leaders to unseat Leinster and reach the final against Toulouse or Harlequins, who meet in France tomorrow.

They have the potential to pull it off.

Phil Dowson has assembled a team full of talent and pace, led by the brilliant Courtney Lawes, who is in his final weeks with the club before he moves to Brive.

The Ireland players in the Leinster line-up only have to look at Alex Mitchell, Freeman and George Furbank to know how dangerous they can be.

All three players were instrumental in England’s win over Ireland at Twickenham in March, with Mitchell tactically excellent at scrum-half, Furbank’s clever counter-attacking causing headaches and Freeman’s strong running doing major damage.

Leinster will need to be judicious with their kicks against a team that packs such a clear punch on the counter-attack, with out-half Fin Smith more than capable of pulling the strings cleverly and picking his moments to strike.

And yet, you just have to look at the Leinster team-sheet to see that it’s screaming with quality.

Ross Molony’s return strengthens a lineout that’s the foundation for their attacking game, with a front-row that’s the equal of any in the tournament.

Molony partners Joe McCarthy, who will combine with Ryan Baird, Josh van der Flier and Caelan Doris to set a physical tone and give Jamison Gibson-Park and Ross Byrne a platform to play off.

They have plenty of weapons in the backline, even though Garry Ringrose and Hugo Keenan are not fit enough to play.

The decision to go with a 5/3 blend of forwards and backs on the bench perhaps limits their ability to play the power game across 80 minutes, but the return of Jimmy O’Brien gives them another weapon in the final quarter.

They will hope to have done their business by then.

The start is everything and Leinster will draw comfort from their two-week preparation window.

The last time they had such a lead-in, they delivered a stunning opening salvo and led 17-0 in the first quarter.

Yes, they squandered that lead, but there’s nothing to suggest that Northampton would have the La Rochelle-esque wherewithal to come back in such circumstances.

What they do have is pace, and if they can get their backline on the ball, they’ll challenge a reconfigured Leinster backline where Robbie Henshaw is likely to defend at No 13 and Ciarán Frawley remains a makeshift full-back.

They’ll have noted that Dillyn Leyds burned him on his first two run-backs in the quarter-final and will use Mitchell’s boot to test him and Jordan Larmour in the air.

Northampton like a box kick, and with Freeman in midfield, they may even look to use his aerial ability in the same unorthodox way that Leinster and Ireland often use Henshaw.

They have a good but not brilliant tight five, so Leinster will see a chance to get on top there, but Lawes and Co will go after Dan Sheehan’s throw in the hope of disrupting the home side’s supply. If they can do that, then it will be game on.

It’s all part of the slightly different feel that comes with the territory across town, but you’d imagine the thought of 80,000-odd Leinster fans coming to this unique occasion will energise these players rather than get on top of them.

They’re primed to perform, and despite Northampton’s array of weapons, it’s Leinster that have the greater firepower and should prevail.

Verdict: Leinster 36, Northampton Saints 24

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