Champions Cup quarter-final: Leinster v Saracens, Aviva Stadium, Saturday, This is it then, the big one. Watch Live The one we’ve all been anticipating since the draw was confirmed way back on January 19th, the one game that had any tangible relevance for Saracens since their relegation for repeated salary cap breaches was confirmed that same weekend.

Last year’s Heineken Champions Cup finalists clash again. But the Saracens side Leinster faced in Newcastle in May 2019 will be at a very different ebb emotionally on Saturday.

The reigning champions have had an eventful period off the field, to say the very least, with enforced relegation from the Premiership for salary cap breaches, meaning this quarter-final is the English club’s last meaningful match for the next year at least.

On the field, they have to contend with the blow of losing Owen Farrell to suspension as they visit the Aviva Stadium.

The pariahs of the Premiership arrive diluted by the departure or retirement of 11 of the 23-man squad which beat Leinster in last season’s final as well as the suspension of their talisman Owen Farrell. But, in last dance territory, they’ll also be as belligerent as they’ve ever been given this one opportunity to stick a proverbial two fingers at their many critics.

The former Ireland captain believes that “the carrot of playing Leinster in a quarter-final has actually sustained them over the lockdown”.

That being said, Leinster should be confident, based on the way they have gone about their business on the pitch since losing that last Champions Cup final.

Leo Cullen’s squad won every game in the truncated Guinness Pro14 campaign, capped off with victory over Ulster in last Saturday’s decider, with Johnny Sexton mostly rested, and had also done the same in Europe before the pandemic halted the competition.

Six pool wins from six had thrust Leinster into the quarter-finals, against a Saracens team that finished second in Pool 4 behind Racing 92 but ahead of Munster with two defeats.

By rights, this would have been a pairing fit for the final again. Saracens are seeking to equal Leinster’s haul with a fourth title (in just five years) while Leinster are three games away from a record fifth title as well as an unbeaten season.

Aside from being the two dominant forces in this competition over the last four years, Saracens are the reigning European champions and outgoing Premiership champions while Leinster have just completed a third Pro14 title in a row.

The prize is huge. If Leinster win, they will host the winners of the Clermont-Racing quarter-final at the Aviva Stadium at 1pm next Saturday in a semi-final which will also be on terrestrial television. For the loser, the 2019-20 season is over.

Mark McCall has unveiled a starting XV all of whom were rested for last week’s win over Exeter. As expected the experienced Alex Goode has been moved to outhalf in the absence of the suspended Owen Farrell, with Elliot Daly reverting to fullback and Duncan Taylor restored to the midfield.

The fitness and selection of Mako Vunipola for his first game since the lockdown is a significant boost and, while Nick Skelton was a major factor in Newcastle, the core of their side still has a familiar look to it, and features eight of the starting XV from the final in Newcastle.

Besides, one of Saracens’ unwavering characteristics is that players fit seamlessly into their well-drilled systems, and with captain Brad Barritt and recalled scrumhalf Richard Wigglesworth also ending their time at the club at the end of ‘this’ season, no visiting team to the Aviva will ever be more motivated.

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