Must. Win.

Tell me honestly, I can take it.  Have we, as fans of Leinster and Munster, become smug sons-of-bitches who feel we have some kind of god-given right to win trophies?

Yeah, thought so.  Just checking.

Well, whether you look at it from the inside for the outside, these back-to-back clashes with the Scarlets and Perpignan respectively are definitely “must-win” ones for both provinces IF they feel, as all their fans did when the season kicked off it has to be said, they can taste Heineken Cup glory again this year.

As for a closer look at Leinster’s team, well, I guess it would look a whole lot better with the names Sexton, Fitzgerald and Jennings in the mix, but the squad was been put together for depth so now is the chance to show it.

Besides, I’d fancy any team with the names D’Arcy and O’Driscoll at 12 and 13, whatever the makeup of the rest of the 23.

Much will be made of our weaknesses at No 10 but I have a feeling Shaun Berne will be up for these encounters, even if he won’t bring to the table what Jonny Ten would have done.

My biggest concern will be in the pack.  Much like Ireland’s needs against the Springboks, it’s very important we at least keep our opposition close on the scoreboard right up to the final quarter, and where we may fail to do this would be with penalty- and yellow-card-magnets such as Healy and Hines so hopefully they can focus their aggression.

Not that any Irish province is going to have it easy this weekend by a long shot.  Even Connacht, the our only unbeaten representatives in Europe, won’t find it easy against Premiership strugglers Worcester.

Yet despite the challenge ahead, the only province I predict will fail this weekend will be Ulster – I fear Les Pinks may be too strong for them over 80m minutes.

But what the hell do I know?  Well one thing is that it’s going to be an exciting two weekends of rugby whatever happens!