A few weeks after the “One More Year” chant echoed around the RDS the announcement finally came that Irish rugby’s Great One had granted his supporters’ plea. But no Brian O’Driscoll in the squad for the Amlin final due to the back injury suffered against Glasgow last week.

Such has life been in the Leinster camp this year. Forced to survive without core players like Sean O’Brien, Richardt Strauss, Jonathan Sexton, Eoin Reddan, Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’arcy for extended periods this season the blues have had to suck it up and get on with it. Such perseverance has been rewarded with two finals in two weeks, the first after just a six day turnaround following a punishing Rabo Pro 12 semi final against a teak-tough Glasgow outfit.

Stade Francais will not be in the final of the Top 14, having finished in tenth place with a defence only bettered for porousness by Agen and Mont-de-Marsan at the foot of the table.

With two French teams in the senior final and both Toulon and Clermont having qualified already by virtue of their league position the extra place earned for French rugby in the 2012-13 Heineken Cup final presently sits in Perpignan’s hands. With the Amlin winner guaranteed a place and no country permitted to have more than 7 teams, Stade would directly replace Perpignan in the 2012-13 competition. Along with Perpignan there will be two other interested parties watching tonight’s action intently: Connacht who will receive a Heineken Cup place in the event of a Leinster win and Wasps who will go through in the event of a Stade Francais win as the highest-ranked non-qualified side in England.

With Leinster already safely into next year’s Heineken Cup it’s about pride and a desire to win a cup double in front of their own fans and finishing on a hight for two great Leinster players who move on to pastures new – Isa Nacewa and Jonathan Sexton. Only two more games for “Isa! Isa! Isa!” to volley around the RDS; only two more games for the trademarked Sexton wrap-around. With six Heineken Cups between them they will be sorely missed.

Stade have the magnificent Sergio Parisse, probably the greatest number eight in world rugby in the last decade. The Argentinian-born Italian international, a shoo-in for a Lions jersey if eligible, deserves all the praise lavished upon him.

Less high profile faces they might be but very recognisable to the Irish rugby-watching public will be Stan Wright, Paul Warwick and Felipe Contepomi. It would have been wonderful indeed to have had the 35 year old Contepomi return to his old stomping ground to face his apprentice in a battle for silverware but the injury gods decreed otherwise. A knee injury suffered in Argentina’s autumn win over Wales, viewed by some as career-threatening at the time, saw him return in the late season but too late for registration to face Leinster. Both Warwick and Wright start from the bench; if the latter comes on you can guarantee a hearty ovation from a Leinster public who will not have forgotten the contributions he made to two Heineken Cup winning campaigns.

Contepomi captained the mostly second-string Stade side sent to face Biarritz in their final league match of the season. A dead rubber for both teams, Biarritz put fifty points on them. And then Stade went back to Paris for two weeks off to rest up.

Leinster have not named a full strength side for the match; some decisions were taken out of Joe Schmidt’s hands due to injury but others brought about due to an extremely tough schedule. So it’s Quinn Roux over Leo Cullen and Jack McGrath over Cian Healy with a total of four substitute appearances in European play between the two younger men.

In the back row Sean O’Brien is chosen ahead of Shane Jennings. It will be interesting to see what kind of effect the absence of Jennings will have on the carrying performance of Jamie Heaslip, Leinster’s Amlin final captain, who in both the Amlin and Rabo Pro 12 finals had returned to his rampaging best.

Cullen, Healy and Jennings are a classy trio of forwards to have on the bench, not forgetting Richardt Strauss who steps aside to make way for Sean Cronin to start at hooker. Jamie Hagan completes the forward substitutes.

With a nod to the parlance of Joe Schmidt’s homeland Leinster have picked Ian Madigan at second five-eighth with Sexton at first-five, accompanied by Fergus McFadden at centre. McFadden has had a wonderful season combining an almost reckless disregard for his own safety in the tackle with wonderful moments like that double-chip over Biarritz in the semi-final.

Rob Kearney will relish another opportunity to remind Warren Gatland of his ability before the Lions squad gathers and wings Andrew Conway and Isa Nacewa will show the fans what they’ll be missing when they move on. Conway has looked electric in recent weeks and both Munster fans and management must surely be excited with the potential of their new signing for next season.

The RDS will be heaving, the extended capacity bringing the seat numbers up just shy of the 20,000 mark. Stade will be full of pink as always, Leinster full of anticipation. And there will be people watching in Perpignan, Galway and the western parts of London looking to see where they’ll end up next year. It could be a wonderful start to a great Dublin festival of rugby.

This piece was published as part of the Balls.ie Amlin/Heineken Cup Finals preview: http://balls.ie/rugby/amilin-cup-final-preview/